John Espey
Encyclopedia
John J. Espey was born in Shanghai
, where his parents were Presbyterian missionaries. Espey returned to the United States to study at Occidental College
in 1930, then went to Merton College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar in 1935. In 1938, he became a member of the faculty at his alma mater, then taught in the English Department at UCLA from 1948 until his death.
Espey described the world of his Shanghai childhood in a series of humorous though sometime rueful sketches in The New Yorker
magazine which he collected into several books. Minor Heresies (New York: Knopf, 1945). Tales Out of School (New York: Knopf, 1947) described life and education at the Kuling American School and his experiences as a member of the Pine Tree Patrol, a Boy Scout troop. The Other City (New York: Knopf, 1950). These memoirs of missionary life in pre-revolutionary Shanghai were both affectionate and skeptical in their descriptions of an earnest Presbyterian effort to uplift China and the resistance of local society to those efforts. Selections from these books were included in Minor Heresies, Major Departures (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994), which collects “all that he wishes to retain” of these writings. He waited until well after the death of his parents to write longer and franker treatments – Strong Drink, Strong Language (1990), a nonfiction book which was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the novel Winter Return (1992). "I loved this man," he recalled to the Los Angeles Times, but when he visited his father in a Pasadena retirement home, he needed the fortification of whiskey. "I felt greatly hurt that, even at the end of his life, we didn't communicate. He felt that my work was frivolous. I really should have been out there converting souls."
Espey's fiction includes two "California" novels: The Anniversaries (1963) and An Observer (1965). His literary scholarship includes the early monograph Ezra Pound's "Mauberley": A Study in Composition (London: Faber & Faber, 1955;Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974), and, with Richard Ellman, Oscar Wilde: Two Approaches (1977). He also collected decorative bookbinding and with his friend Charles Gullans compiled bibliographies on the subject: A Checklist of Trade Bindings Designed by Margaret Armstrong (1968) and The Decorative Designers (1970).
In 1938, John married Alice Rideout, whom he met as an undergraduate. They had two daughters, Alice and Susan. A year after his wife's death in 1974, he began a literary and personal relationship with Carolyn See
, who had been one of his graduate students, which lasted the rest of his life. They wrote of their relationship in Two Schools of Thought: Some Tales of Learning and Romance (1991). Under the pseudonym “Monica Highland,” Espey, See, and Carolyn's daughter, Lisa See wrote three popular novels: Lotus Land (1983), 110 Shanghai Road (1986), and Greetings from Southern California (1988).
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, where his parents were Presbyterian missionaries. Espey returned to the United States to study at Occidental College
Occidental College
Occidental College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887, Occidental College, or "Oxy" as it is called by students and alumni, is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges on the West Coast...
in 1930, then went to Merton College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar in 1935. In 1938, he became a member of the faculty at his alma mater, then taught in the English Department at UCLA from 1948 until his death.
Espey described the world of his Shanghai childhood in a series of humorous though sometime rueful sketches in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
magazine which he collected into several books. Minor Heresies (New York: Knopf, 1945). Tales Out of School (New York: Knopf, 1947) described life and education at the Kuling American School and his experiences as a member of the Pine Tree Patrol, a Boy Scout troop. The Other City (New York: Knopf, 1950). These memoirs of missionary life in pre-revolutionary Shanghai were both affectionate and skeptical in their descriptions of an earnest Presbyterian effort to uplift China and the resistance of local society to those efforts. Selections from these books were included in Minor Heresies, Major Departures (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994), which collects “all that he wishes to retain” of these writings. He waited until well after the death of his parents to write longer and franker treatments – Strong Drink, Strong Language (1990), a nonfiction book which was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the novel Winter Return (1992). "I loved this man," he recalled to the Los Angeles Times, but when he visited his father in a Pasadena retirement home, he needed the fortification of whiskey. "I felt greatly hurt that, even at the end of his life, we didn't communicate. He felt that my work was frivolous. I really should have been out there converting souls."
Espey's fiction includes two "California" novels: The Anniversaries (1963) and An Observer (1965). His literary scholarship includes the early monograph Ezra Pound's "Mauberley": A Study in Composition (London: Faber & Faber, 1955;Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974), and, with Richard Ellman, Oscar Wilde: Two Approaches (1977). He also collected decorative bookbinding and with his friend Charles Gullans compiled bibliographies on the subject: A Checklist of Trade Bindings Designed by Margaret Armstrong (1968) and The Decorative Designers (1970).
In 1938, John married Alice Rideout, whom he met as an undergraduate. They had two daughters, Alice and Susan. A year after his wife's death in 1974, he began a literary and personal relationship with Carolyn See
Carolyn See
Carolyn See is the author of nine books, including the memoir, Dreaming: Hard Luck and Good Times in America, an advice book on writing, Making a Literary Life, and the novels There Will Never Be Another You and The Handyman....
, who had been one of his graduate students, which lasted the rest of his life. They wrote of their relationship in Two Schools of Thought: Some Tales of Learning and Romance (1991). Under the pseudonym “Monica Highland,” Espey, See, and Carolyn's daughter, Lisa See wrote three popular novels: Lotus Land (1983), 110 Shanghai Road (1986), and Greetings from Southern California (1988).