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Photo by Reed Hutchinson UCLA Photographic Services
Carolyn See, author and adjunct English professor, has
established an endowment for the study of Southern California
and L.A. literature.
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Honoring a beloved professor
See's generosity aids study of SoCal literature
by MEG SULLIVAN
ucla today
When Carolyn See became the first UCLA student to write a doctoral
dissertation on Hollywood novels, she found 500 novels about Hollywood,
but only four novels about L.A.
What a difference 41 years makes! Today, by the count of the beloved
adjunct professor of English who retired in July, hundreds of local
novelists — “a cultural explosion” — are
making Los Angeles grist for their mill.
“For novelists, Los Angeles today is Paris in the ’20s
or New York in the ’30s,” See said. “Thanks to
good weather, massive immigration and great universities, an important
scene has coalesced here. I get very excited about this stuff.”
To ensure that others share her enthusiasm, See has established
a $100,000 endowment for the study of Southern California and Los
Angeles literature. Each year, no less than $5,000 will go to a
UCLA graduate student writing a dissertation in the field. “It’s
a gesture designed to say, ‘Look what we’ve done in
50 years,’ ” See explained.
If Los Angeles literature has come a long way since her 1963 dissertation,
See, the author of more than nine novels and memoirs, certainly
deserves some of the credit, and the English department has planned
a Nov. 14 reception to honor her role.
Arguably most known for three best-selling books — “Golden
Days,” “Dreaming: Hard Luck and Good Times in America”
and “The Handyman” — See earned a lifetime achievement
award from PEN West in 1998 and the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes’
1993 Robert Kirsch Award, which honors a living author whose residence
and/or focus is the American West. But she concedes that she probably
sold more books as one-third of Monica Highland, the nom de plume
assumed by See, her longtime companion and fellow English department
faculty member John Espey (now deceased) and See’s eldest
daughter and fellow novelist, Lisa. As Highland, they collaborated
on three blockbusters: “Lotus Land,” “110 Shanghai
Road” and “Greetings from Southern California.”
During the 21 years she has taught creative writing and the literature
of California and the West at UCLA, See has nurtured her share of
L.A. writers: novelist Tara Ison (“A Child Out of Alcatraz”),
screenwriter Neil Landau (“Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s
Dead”) and Los Angeles Times reporter Lynell George.
A prolific book reviewer, See contributed weekly to the Los Angeles
Times, Newsday and the Washington Post. Her 2002 how-to book “Making
a Literary Life” walks beginning writers through publishing
and marketing their first book.
See still devotes about an hour and a half each day to answering
readers’ e-mails, an amazing feat considering her eyesight
is failing. She was diagnosed with macular degeneration seven years
ago.
“I’m not surprised,” said English Chair Tom Wortham.
“There’s no limit to Carolyn’s generosity in helping
others become better and more successful writers.”
The 2 p.m. reception will be held in Royce Hall, Room 306. For
more information, call (310) 206-0961 or write to friends@english.ucla.edu.
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