MacArthur Foundation

[davemarc]

'Genius Grant' for Pynchon

By Tim Page

	Thomas Pynchon is known not only for his three difficult, densely plotted
and extraordinarily imaginative novels -- "V" (1963), "The Crying of Lot
49" (1966) and "Gravity's Rainbow" (1973) -- but for what one critic has
described as his "tantalizing physical inaccessibility."
	Pynchon, who many consider one of the most important authors in American
letters, has never granted an interview; the only photographs of him that
have been published date back three decades or more.  When it was announced
that he had won a so-called genius grant from the John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation Fellowship Monday, it was a matter of some surprise
that the foundation was able to reach him, for Pynchon's whereabouts are a
carefully guarded secret.
	"We contacted Pynchon through his agent," Ken Hope, the director of the
fellows program, said yesterday.  "He called us back--I'm not sure where
from--and we spoke, and he was very cordial and very pleasant."
	Like all MacArthur fellow, Pynchon--who was awarded a grant of $310,000,
to be paid over the next five years--may use the money in any way he
wishes.  The foundation established the fellowship with the aim of freeing
exceptionally talented people from economic constraints in order to develop
their potential.
	According to the foundation's press release, Pynchon is a "writer noted
for his mastery of history, science, politics and art," and added, with
unexpected candor, that the author lived in Boston. [sic] This came as news
to his mother, Katherine Pynchon of East Norwich, as indeed, did the award
itself.  [sic]
	"Tom lives in New York City," she said yesterday, in a manner that was
friendly but gently protective.  "We only hear from him occasionally.  I
don't know a thing about any award."  When told of the fellowship, her
voice took on an unmistakable note of parental pride.  "Why, that's
wonderful," she said....

>From Newsday, July 20, 1988