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'''Joseph Epstein''' (born January 9, 1937) is an essayist, short-story writer, and editor. From 1974 to 1998<ref name="Scholar 75">{{cite web|last1=Widmer|first1=Ted|title=The American Scholar: THE SCHOLAR AT 75: An Educated Guess|date=December 1, 2006 |url=https://theamericanscholar.org/an-educated-guess/|website=theamericanscholar.org}}</ref> he was the editor of the magazine ''[[The American Scholar (magazine)|The American Scholar]]''.
'''Joseph Epstein''' (born January 9, 1937) was an essayist, short-story writer, and editor.


==Early life==
==Early life==

Revision as of 06:30, 13 December 2020

Joseph Epstein
Born (1937-01-09) January 9, 1937 (age 87)
OccupationEssayist, short-story writer, editor, teacher
Years active1975–2006
Notable awardsNational Humanities Medal

Joseph Epstein (born January 9, 1937) was an essayist, short-story writer, and editor.

Early life

Epstein graduated from Senn High School and attended the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.[1]

Career

A short story by Epstein was included in The Best American Short Stories in 2007 and again in 2009.[2]

Starting in 1974, he served for twenty-five years as editor of The American Scholar, the magazine of the Phi Beta Kappa society, and wrote for it under the pseudonym Aristides.[3][2] Epstein was removed as editor of The American Scholar in 1998 by a vote of the Phi Beta Kappa senate.[4]

Homosexuality

In September 1970, Harper's Magazine published an article by Epstein called "Homo/Hetero: The Struggle for Sexual Identity"[5] that used the N-word to describe being gay and was criticized for its perceived homophobia.[6] Epstein wrote that he considered homosexuality "a curse, in a literal sense" and that his sons could do nothing to make him sadder than "if any of them were to become homosexual."[6][7] Gay activists characterized the essay as portraying every gay man the author met, or fantasized about meeting, as predatory, sex-obsessed, and a threat to civilization.[8] In the essay, he says that, if possible, "I would wish homosexuality off the face of the earth", a statement that was interpreted by gay writer and editor Merle Miller as a call to genocide.[9] A sit-in took place at Harper's by members of the Gay Activists Alliance.[10][8]

Criticism of Dr. Biden

In a December 2020 Wall Street Journal opinion piece, he suggested that Dr. Biden stop using the academic title 'Dr.' Dr. Biden holds an earned Doctor of Education. Epstein, who holds no title, felt that using an earned title "feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic".[11] The piece opens by addressing Dr. Biden as "Madame First Lady—Mrs. Biden—Jill—kiddo". That unwarranted disrespectful address was criticized on Twitter by numerous public figures.[12] He also critiqued the title of Biden's groundbreaking dissertation that made an important contribution to understanding student retention at the community college level, calling it 'unpromising'.[13] His former employer, Northwestern University, released a statement condemning Epstein's opinions, writing, "Northwestern is firmly committed to equity, diversity and inclusion, and strongly disagrees with Mr. Epstein’s misogynistic views," and noted that he had not been employed to teach a course in nearly twenty years. [14]

Awards

In 2003, he was awarded a National Humanities Medal by the National Endowment for the Humanities.[15]

Selected works

References

  1. ^ Birnbaum, Robert (31 August 2003). "Joseph Epstein - Identity Theory". Identity Theory.
  2. ^ a b "Joseph Epstein". Contemporary Authors Online. Gale. 5 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  3. ^ "Joseph Epstein: Department of English, Northwestern University". www.english.northwestern.edu.
  4. ^ Grenier, Cynthia (3 January 1998). "Conservatives on the Move". Highbeam. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
  5. ^ Joseph Epstein, Homo/Hetero: The Struggle for Sexual Identity, Harper’s Magazine, September 1970
  6. ^ a b Larry P. Gross & James D. Woods, The Columbia Reader on Lesbians and Gay Men in Media, Society, and Politics (Columbia University Press, 1999), ISBN 978-0231104463, p. 595. Excerpts available at Google Books.
  7. ^ Christopher Bram, Eminent Outlaws: The Gay Writers Who Changed America (Hachette Digital, 2012), ISBN 978-0446575980, p. 142. Excerpts available at Google Books.
  8. ^ a b David Ehrenstein (August 30, 2002). "Sexual Snobbery: The Texture of Joseph Epstein". LA Weekly.
  9. ^ Emily Greenhouse (11 October 2012). "Merle Miller and the Piece That Launched a Thousand "It Gets Better" Videos". The New Yorker.
  10. ^ Larry P. Gross, Up from Invisibility: Lesbians, Gay Men, and the Media in America (Columbia University Press, 2001), ISBN 978-0231119535, pp. 43ff. Excerpts available at Google Books.
  11. ^ Epstein, Joseph (2020-12-11). "Opinion | Is There a Doctor in the White House? Not if You Need an M.D." Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  12. ^ Castronuovo, Celine (2020-12-12). "Wall Street Journal draws backlash over op-ed urging Jill Biden to drop 'doctor' title". TheHill. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  13. ^ Levenson, Michael (12 December 2020). "An Opinion Writer Argued Jill Biden Should Drop the 'Dr.' (Few Were Swayed.)". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  14. ^ Sarraf, Isabelle (2020-12-13). "NU condemns Joseph Epstein's WSJ op-ed". The Daily Northwestern. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
  15. ^ "Joseph Epstein". National Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
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