Noel Perrin
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'''Noel Perrin''' ([[September 18]], [[1927]] – [[November 21]], [[2004]]) was an [[United States|American]] [[essayist]] and a [[professor]] at [[Dartmouth College]].<ref name="dart-obit">{{cite web
| url = http://www.dartmouth.edu/~news/releases/2004/11/23.html
| title = Noel Perrin, 1927–2004
| date = 2004-11-23 | publisher = Dartmouth College Office of Public Affairs
| accessdate = 2007-10-15
}}</ref><ref name="wapo-obit">{{cite web
| url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13544-2004Nov25.html
| title = "Noel Perrin, Dartmouth Professor And Rural Essayist, Dies at 77"
| author = Matt Schudel | date = [[November 26]], [[2004]]
| publisher = ''[[Washington Post]]''
| accessdate = 2007-10-15
}}</ref><ref name="find-obit">{{cite web
| url = http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20041213/ai_n12824846
| title = Obituary: Noel Perrin
| author = Christopher Hawtree | date = [[December 13]], [[2004]]
| publisher = ''[[The Independent]]''
| accessdate = 2007-10-15
}}</ref><ref name="globe-obit">{{cite web
| url = http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2004/11/23/noel_perrin_at_77_teacher_writer_of_essays_on_rural_life/
| title = "Noel Perrin, at 77; teacher, writer of essays on rural life"
| author = | date = [[November 23]], [[2004]] | publisher = [[Associated Press]]
| accessdate = 2007-10-15
}} </ref>
==Early years==
Perrin was born on September 18, 1927 in [[New York City]] and grew up in [[Pelham Manor, New York]] His parents both worked as advertising [[copywriters]] at the [[JWT|J. Walter Thompson Agency]].<ref name="dart-obit"/> His mother, Blanche Chenery Perrin, was a career writer and the author of several novels.<ref name="wapo-obit"/> Perrin's mother was his inspiration to become a [[writer]].
Perrin was educated at the [[Woodberry Forest School]] in Woodberry Forest, [[Virginia]], and later at [[Williams College]], where he majored in [[literature| English Literature]] and graduating in 1949. He received a [[master's degree]] from [[Duke University]] in 1950, then served in the [[United States Army]]. During the [[Korean War]] he served as a forward observer in a [[field artillery]] unit and was awarded the [[Bronze Star Medal|Bronze Star]].<ref name="dart-obit"/><ref name="wapo-obit"/><ref name="find-obit"/><ref name="globe-obit"/>
==Teaching and writing career==
During the 1950s, Perrin taught English [[Literature]] at the [[Woman's College of the University of North Carolina]] (1956–1959). Perrin further studied at [[Cambridge University]], where he received an [[Master's]] of Literature degree in 1958.<ref name="wapo-obit"/>
Perrin joined the Dartmouth faculty in 1959 as an instructor in English, reaching the rank of full professor by 1970. He specialized in teaching modern [[poetry]], particularly that of [[Robert Frost]]. He was a [[Fulbright Program|Fulbright]] professor at [[Warsaw University]] in [[Poland]] in 1970, and was twice a [[Guggenheim Fellow]]. He joined Dartmouth's [[Environmental Studies]] Program in 1984 as an Adjunct Professor, teaching courses on a range of subjects.<ref name="dart-obit"/><ref name="wapo-obit"/><ref name="find-obit"/>
<ref name="globe-obit"/>
He wrote essays for many publications and was a regular contributor to the ''[[Washington Post]]'' for more than 20 years, covering a wide variety of subjects. His ''Washington Post'' essays later were published as ''A Reader's Delight'' (1988), one of his 12 books. Mr. Perrin's later ''Washington Post'' columns about forgotten works of children's literature were collected in the book ''A Child's Delight'' (1997).<ref name="dart-obit"/><ref name="wapo-obit"/><ref name="find-obit"/><ref name="globe-obit"/>
His second book, ''[[Thomas Bowdler|Dr. Bowdler]]'s Legacy: A History of Expurgated Books in England and America'' (1969), was nominated for the [[National Book Award]]. His sixth book was ''Giving up the Gun: [[Japan]]'s Reversion to the Sword, 1543–1879''.<ref name="dart-obit"/><ref name="wapo-obit"/><ref name="find-obit"/>
In 1963 Perrin bought a farm in [[Thetford Center, Vermont|Thetford Center]], [[Vermont]], which served him as home and grist for six books, including ''First Person Rural: Essays of a Sometime Farmer'' (1978). Perrin often wrote essays about [[rural]] life in a similar fashion as [[Will Carleton]] did with his poems. "He reveled in the rural life," said writer Reeve Lindbergh, whose sister [[Anne Lindbergh|Anne Spencer Lindbergh]] was Perrin's third wife. "He was a fresh and unexpected, ethical, humane and charming voice for northern New England."<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.minor-heresies.com/?p=43
| title = Noel Perrin, the Tokugawa Shogunate, and Land Mines
|author =
| date = [[December 10]], [[2006]]
|publisher =
| accessdate = 2007-10-15
}}</ref> Noel Perrin's second in his trilogy of essays on the practice and philosophy of country living, ''Second Person Rural'' (1980), provided a healthy ration of practical advice for the "sometime" farmer. Perrin discussed how to use a [[Peavey (tool)|peavey]], what to do with [[maple syrup]] (besides pouring it over [[waffle]]s), and how to replace a [[Rotary tiller|rototiller]] with a garden animal. Although Perrin taught at Dartmouth College and knew the terms of the upland [[Yankee]] fable, his sophisticated wit re-fashioned it without allowing it to lose its laconic edge.
==Interest in environmental matters==
Perrin's interest in environmental matters, including [[alternative energy sources]], led him to purchase an [[electric car]] in 1990.<ref name="nyt-obit">{{cite web
| url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE3D6163BF937A15751C1A964958260
| title = "Books of The Times; Coast to Coast in an Ecologist's Dream With Wheels"
| author = Christopher Lehmann-Haupt | authorlink = Christopher Lehmann-Haupt
| date = [[December 24]], [[1992]] | publisher = ''[[New York Times]]''
| accessdate = 2007-10-15
}}</ref> He recounted his adventures driving his converted [[Ford Escort]] from the builder in [[California]] home to Vermont in ''Solo: Life with an Electric Car'' (1992). One advantage of the car proved to be a rare reserved parking spot on campus — with its own electrical outlet.<ref name="nyt-obit"/> Perrin later put a [[Photovoltaic module|solar panel]] array on his barn roof.
Perrin once wrote to a friend: "I currently spend half my time teaching at Dartmouth, half farming and half writing. That this adds up to three halves I am all too aware." Perrin, who suffered from [[Shy-Drager syndrome]], died at his farmhouse on [[November 21]], [[2004]].<ref name="dart-obit"/><ref name="wapo-obit"/><ref name="find-obit"/><ref name="globe-obit"/>
==His works==
* ''A Passport Secretly Green'' (1961)
* ''Dr. Bowdler's Legacy: A History of Expurgated Books in England and America'' (1969)
* ''Vermont in All Weathers'' (1971)
* ''The Amateur Sugar Maker'' (1972) <ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.biblio.com/books/22282700.html
| title = ''Amateur Sugar Maker'' by Perrin, Noel
|author =
|date =
|publisher = www.biblio.com
| accessdate = 2007-10-15
}}</ref>
* ''First Person Rural: Essays of a Sometime Farmer'' (1978)
* ''Giving up the Gun: Japan's Reversion to the Sword, 1543–1879'' (1979)
* ''Second Person Rural: More Essays of a Sometime Farmer'' (1980)
* ''Third Person Rural: Further Essays of a Sometime Farmer'' (1983)
* ''Forever Virgin: The American View of America'' (1986, in ''[[Antaeus (magazine)|Antaeus]]'') <ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/88040.html
| title = Perrin's "Forever Virgin: The American View of America"
|date =
| publisher = MegaEssays.com
| accessdate = 2007-10-15
}} </ref>
* ''A Reader's Delight'' (1988)
* ''Last Person Rural'' (1991)
* ''Solo: Life with an Electric Car'' (1992)
* ''A Child's Delight'' (1997) <ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.upne.com/0-87451-840-7.html
| title = ''A Child’s Delight'' by Noel Perrin
|date =
| publisher = www.upne.com
| accessdate = 2007-10-15
}}</ref>
* ''Best Person Rural: Essays of a Sometime Farmer'' (2006), edited by Terry S. Osborne
==References==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
*[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4193064 November 30, 2004 ''Remembering Noel Perrin'': NPR overview about Noel Perrin, including excerpts from Noel Perrin's 1978 NPR Interview]
*[http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2004/11/23/noel_perrin_at_77_teacher_writer_of_essays_on_rural_life/ The ''Boston Globe'' Biography of Noel Perrin]
*[http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2006/11/20/noel-perrin%E2%80%99s-vermont-the-last-harvest/ Perrin Book Reviews]
*[http://godine.com/author.asp?first=Noel&last=Perrin Further Book reviews]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perrin, Noel}}
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:American essayists]]
[[Category:Dartmouth College faculty]]
[[Category:Duke University alumni]]