Lawrence Sheldon Rudner Papers 1967-1998

Lawrence Sheldon Rudner was born in Detroit, Michigan, on January 7, 1947. He attended Mumford High School in Detroit. During the 1960s, Rudner studied at the London School of Economics, receiving a diploma in philosophy in 1967. He also attended Michigan State University, receiving a bachelor's degree in history and social science in 1968; a master's degree in history in 1971; a master's degree in communications and journalism in 1972; and a doctorate in English and American Studies in 1977. During the Vietnam War, Rudner was a member of the anti-war organization Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

From 1975-1976, Rudner taught English courses at Western Michigan University and from 1976-1978, at Lakeland College in Wisconsin. Rudner began teaching in the English department at North Carolina State University as an assistant professor in 1978. He became an associate professor in 1985 and a full professor in 1992. Rudner taught courses at North Carolina State in journalism, American literature, world literature, and occasionally creative writing. The focus of his academic career, however, was the Holocaust, about which he researched, taught, and wrote. He created a course in the English department at North Carolina State entitled "Literature of the Holocaust" (later, "The Holocaust in Literature"), which continued to be taught after his death. In 1988, Rudner published his first novel, The Magic We Do Here, which won the 1988 Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction. According to Rudner, this novel was an attempt to fight the passing of memory about the Holocaust. Rudner also published several short stories and non-fiction articles relating to the Holocaust. His second and final novel, Memory's Tailor, was published posthumously in 1998 after being edited by colleague John Kessel and editor Susan Ketchin.

During the 1980s, Rudner spent many of his summers in Poland and Czechoslovakia as an American Studies Fellowship lecturer. He was awarded a Senior Fulbright Fellowship for 1986-1987 and spent that time at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland teaching courses on American literature and a seminar on Isaac Bashevis Singer. Also during the 1980s, Rudner and colleague Sandy Kessler taught a humanities course entitled "Survival and Growth Under Adverse Conditions" to long-term inmates of Raleigh's Central Prison.

In 1969, Rudner married his wife Lauren, with whom he had two children, Joshua and Elizabeth. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 1994, stopped teaching after the spring semester of that year, and died on May 5, 1995 at the age of 48.

The Lawrence Sheldon Rudner Papers mainly comprise documentation of Rudner's career as a writer and as a professor at North Carolina State University. It includes manuscripts of his novels, short stories, speeches, and non-fiction articles; reviews of his books; research files on the Holocaust and other topics; information on courses Rudner taught at North Carolina State and elsewhere; applications for grants; and correspondence. A small portion of the collection - comprising photographs, newspaper articles, correspondence, and biographical information - documents Rudner's personal life.

The Lawrence Sheldon Rudner Papers are organized into four series: Writings, Research and Teaching, Professional Correspondence, and Personal Files.

North Carolina State University does not own copyright to this collection. Individuals obtaining materials from the NC State University Libraries' Special Collections Research Center are responsible for using the works in conformance with United States copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials.

This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.

[Identification of item], Lawrence Sheldon Rudner Papers, MC 00218, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC

The Lawrence Sheldon Rudner Papers were a gift of Lauren Rudner, February 9, 1995; John Kessel, 1998; Lars Osberg, November 8, 2002; and Ruth B. Hutchinson, May 6, 2003.