Irving, John

American novelist born as John Wallace Blunt, Jr. in Exeter, New Hampshire. His mother was a nurse and his stepfather taught the Russian history; he never met his biological father. He loved books from an early age, even though he was dyslectic. Irving was a wrestler until the age of thirty-four when he became a coach. His novels often feature wrestling boys and girls. He attended the University of Pittsburgh in 1961–1962 and the Institute for European Studies in Vienna in 1963–1964. He later returned to Vienna to work as a teacher between 1969 and 1971. He has a BA from the University of New Hampshire and an MFA from the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa where his mentor was Kurt Vonnegut. He taught at a number of American universities until 1978. Irving married his first wife, Shyla Leary, in 1964. They had two sons together and later divorced. In 1987 he married his Canadian publisher, Janet Turnbull, who is now one of his agents. They have a son together. Irving lives with his family in Vermont.