32 Facts About Burton Hatlen

Burton Norval Hatlen was an American literary scholar and professor at the University of Maine.

Burton Hatlen was born on April 9,1936, in Santa Barbara, California.

Burton Hatlen married Lily Torvend, a second generation Norwegian-American; they sometimes spoke Norwegian at home.

The couple, who were Lutherans, had three sons of which Burton Hatlen was the youngest.

Burton Hatlen received a full scholarship at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned his bachelor's degree.

Burton Hatlen later earned two separate master's degrees from Harvard University and Columbia University.

Burton Hatlen finally earned his doctorate from the University of California, Davis in 1973.

Burton Hatlen married his second wife, Virginia Nees-Hatlen, an English professor, in 1983.

Burton Hatlen arrived at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine, in 1967.

Burton Hatlen quickly became an active and, by all accounts, highly devoted faculty member in the school's Department of English.

Burton Hatlen eventually became chair of the department, where he oversaw academic grant applications, nationwide promotions and academic tenures, and a host of other responsibilities.

Burton Hatlen delivered more than 100 academic papers from 1977 to 2007 alone, at conferences ranging from Finland, Canada, the United States, London and Paris.

Burton Hatlen served as Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities for one year.

Burton Hatlen never published a collection of his own scholarly writings.

Burton Hatlen's edited collection of essays George Oppen: Man and Poet was a work of which he was especially proud.

Burton Hatlen contributed editorials and letters on local and international politics to local Maine newspapers occasionally.

Burton Hatlen received the UM Presidential Research and Creative Achievement Award for his work in 1996.

In 1999, Burton Hatlen volunteered to cut his salary so the Department of English could hire two new professors, instead of only one.

Burton Hatlen continued to work part-time, even when he became ill, though he carried a full-time work load.

Burton Hatlen spent the later part of his academic career focusing on scholarship on a wide range of modernist poets and fiction writers, as well as continuing to write his own elegiac poetry.

Burton Hatlen marched against both the Vietnam War in the 1960s, as well as the War in Iraq, as recently as 2007, in Bangor, Maine.

Burton Hatlen was one of the founders and a lifelong member of the campuses Marxist-Socialist committee, which oversees a lecture series and an interdisciplinary minor.

Burton Hatlen began working with Carroll Terrell shortly after his arrival at the University of Maine.

Burton Hatlen became director of the National Poetry Foundation in 1991.

Burton Hatlen formed a writing workshop in the late 1960s, with fellow UM colleague, Jim Bishop, and several other writers.

The members of Burton Hatlen's writing workshop continued to meet on and off for the next 15 years.

King and Burton Hatlen remained personally and professionally close throughout Burton Hatlen's life.

Burton Hatlen helped King develop his own style through his workshops.

Stephen and Tabitha King donated $4 million to the University of Maine in 1997, which included $1 million specifically for Burton Hatlen to hire new arts and humanities professors.

Burton Hatlen died of pneumonia at the Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine, on January 21,2008.

Burton Hatlen had been undergoing treatment for prostate cancer over the last 10 years.

Burton Hatlen was 71 years old and was survived by his second wife, Virginia Nees-Hatlen, his two daughters, Julia Hatlen and Inger Hatlen, stepdaughter Hedda Steinhoff, and granddaughter Solveig Daniels.