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Edward Lewis Wallant (October 19, 1926 – December 5, 1962) was an American novelist who wroteThe Pawnbroker (1961). It was adapted into anaward-winning film of the same name, directed bySidney Lumet and starringRod Steiger. He also worked in the 1950s as anart director at the advertising firmMcCann Erickson.
Wallant was born inNew Haven, Connecticut, to Anna Henrietta Mendel and Sol Ellis Wallant.[1]
He served inWorld War II in 1945 as agunner's mate with theU.S. Navy. He spent a total of two semesters theUniversity of Connecticut and graduated fromPratt Institute in 1950, also studying literature and creative writing atThe New School. His time atPratt Institute in Brooklyn, with daily commutes to Manhattan and frequent visits tojazz clubs, inspired the New York settings of his books.[2]
He worked from 1957 to 1961 as an art director at advertising firm McCann-Erickson while he wroteThe Pawnbroker, working on accounts such asBulova,Chock full o' Nuts, andOreo by day while writing at night.[3] Encouraged by his experience at theBread Loaf Writer's Conference, he won aGuggenheim Award in 1962.
Wallant began writing professionally at age twenty-nine. His first published works were short stories published in theNew Voices: American Writing Today series volumes I, II and III. These stories include "When Ben Awakened", "I Held Back My Hand", and "The Man Who Made a Nice Appearance", among others. His novels includeThe Human Season (1960) andThe Pawnbroker (1961), which was adapted into the 1964Oscar-nominatedfilm of the same name directed bySidney Lumet and starringRod Steiger,Geraldine Fitzgerald,Juano Hernandez andMorgan Freeman in his feature film debut.
Two of his novels were published posthumously:The Tenants of Moonbloom (1963) andThe Children at the Gate (1964).The Tenants of Moonbloom was republished in 2003 byThe New York Review of Books.[4]
Wallant has been compared to fellowJewish-American writers of thepostwar period such asSaul Bellow andPhilip Roth.
Wallant died of ananeurysm at the age of 36. He was survived by his wife Joyce, who died in 1991, and by daughters Leslie and Kim and son Scott. His grandchildren include Nina, Steve, Nora, Edward (Eddie), Jon, Esme and Ruthie.
TheEdward Lewis Wallant Award was established in Connecticut shortly after his death in 1962. The award is presented annually to a writer whose fiction has significance forAmerican Jews.[5] The first awardee, in 1963, wasNorman Fruchter. Subsequent awardees have includedHugh Nissenson,Chaim Potok,Leo E. Litwak,Cynthia Ozick,Arthur A. Cohen,Susan Fromberg Schaeffer,Anne Bernays,Curt Leviant,Francine Prose,Jay Neugeboren,Daphne Merkin,Steve Stern,Melvin Jules Bukiet,Gerald Shapiro,Rebecca Goldstein,Thane Rosenbaum,Harvey Grossinger,Allegra Goodman,Judy Budnitz,Myla Goldberg,Dara Horn,Jonathan Rosen,Nicole Krauss,Ehud Havazelet,Eileen Pollack,Sara Houghteling,Julie Orringer,Edith Pearlman,Kenneth Bonert,David Bezmozgis,Rebecca Dinerstein,Ayelet Tsabari, andMargot Singer, among others.
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