John Irving

:This article is about the author. For the billionaire, see John E. Irving

Birth and youth

Irving was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, in unusually contradictory circumstances that have since fueled the plots and themes of several of his novels: his mother Helen, a descendant of the Winslows, one of New England's oldest and most distinguished families, gave birth to Irving (his birth name was John Winslow) out of wedlock, refusing to expose her child's anonymous father. Helen Winslow later married Colin F.N. Irving, a teacher at the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy. John Winslow became John Irving, taking his adoptive father's name. Until the mid 2000s, he never sought the identity of his biological father?"I already have a father," he said. In 2001 he discovered he had a half brother from his biological father's second marriage.

Related Topics:
Exeter, New Hampshire - New England - Phillips Exeter Academy - 2001

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Irving attended Exeter, where he was a mediocre student due to then-undiagnosed dyslexia, but was an outstanding wrestler. The trials of pre-sexual revolution single-motherhood, wrestling, and New England academic life feature prominently in Irving's novels, particularly The World According to Garp and A Prayer for Owen Meany. The primary settings for both novels are based on Phillips Exeter Academy.

Related Topics:
Dyslexia - The World According to Garp - A Prayer for Owen Meany - Phillips Exeter Academy

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Irving was sexually abused at age 11 by an older woman. This event inspired his 2005 novel Until I Find You.

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