Vonnegut chronicler inspired by members of English faculty

Writing is a family affair for Marc Leeds ( Ph.D., English, '87) and his wife, Saralyn Gold (Ph.D., UB Department of Communicative Disorders, '86).

Marc, author of The Vonnegut Encyclopedia: An Authorized Compendium (Greenwood Press, 1995), says, "By the time this is printed, my second book will have appeared-The Vonnegut Chronicles: Interviews and Essays (Greenwood, 1996), coedited with Professor Peter Reed of the University of Minnesota. The text includes 12 pieces of original art by Vonnegut."

Saralyn, assistant chief of hearing and speech at the Miami VA Hospital, coedited The Handbook of Clinical Audiology under the supervision of UB's Dr. Jack Katz.

UB English professor Leslie Fiedler was the advisor for Marc's dissertation, "What Goes Around, Comes Around: The Naive-Schizophrenic-Resurrected Cycle in the Novels of Kurt Vonnegut."

"I firmly believe my UB experiences led directly to the two Vonnegut books and my success at developing computer-assisted writing programs," Marc says. "I jumped through many hoops before the department approved of a Vonnegut dissertation, and it was largely the influence of Leslie Fiedler that turned the tide.

"I have received nearly a quarter of a million dollars in grant money for research and curriculum development of computer-assisted composition programs," Marc adds. "It was Professor Mark Shechner who first introduced me to computing and I'm not sure I would have had the stamina to finish without that new knowledge."

A former director of writing programs at East Tennessee State University and Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio, Marc teaches at Florida Atlantic University and writes custom software manuals.