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Knopf has been writing himself out of trouble
since he talked a teacher into accepting a short story in lieu
of an essay, and an essay in lieu of a multiple choice exam.
A college professor wrote a comment on a friend’s paper
that would have also applied to him: “You write well, which
is good because you have very little command of the subject matter.”
He tried to get into the Johns Hopkins writing
program, but was reportedly rejected by John Barth. One of
Barth’s
colleagues, Michael Lynch, quit soon after and asked him to come
study in London in a program sponsored by Antioch College and
London University.
To support his fiction habit he started working
for PR firms. That
evolved into a career as an advertising copywriter and later
a creative director at Mintz & Hoke.
His command of subject matter continues to
be thin, but now more broadly based, having written technical
papers for chemical engineering and bioscience companies, TV
commercials for construction products and house stains, tire
cleaners, banks and hospitals, radio spots for car dealers,
yogurt and popsicles, and print ads for jet engines, medical
insurance, valves, liquid chromatography, missiles, bicycles
and casinos. To name a few.
His preferred environment involves a lot
of saltwater, having summered as a youth on the New Jersey
shore, where he was also a lifeguard. He lives with his wife
Mary Farrell and dog Samuel Beckett in Connecticut and Southampton,
NY, where he writes on the front porch until it’s too cold
to tap the keys.
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