He was a native of East Bridgeport, Massachusetts. He graduated from the University of Alabama.He taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.He lived in Urbana, Illinois. Roger Ebert was a student.

He married and had four daughters, and a stepdaughter.

• A Stone Man, Michael Joseph, 1964.
• How Many Angels, Beacon Press, 1958
• That Marriage Bed of Procrustes Beacon Press, (1957),

Anthologies