Hilary Masters

Who is Hilary Masters?

Hilary Masters is an American writer.

He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Edgar Lee Masters, a writer, and Ellen Frances Coyne Masters. He attended Davidson College from 1944–1946, then served in the U.S. Navy from 1946 to 1947 as a naval correspondent. He completed his BA at Brown University in 1952.

Masters began his writing career after graduation in New York with Bennett & Pleasant, press agents for concert and dance artists. Next he worked independently as a theatrical press agent for Off Broadway and summer theaters from 1953 to 1956. He then moved into journalism with the Hyde Park Record, in Hyde Park, New York from 1956 to 1959. In the 1960s he was a Democratic candidate for New York's 100th Assembly District. He also worked as a freelance photographer for Image Bank and exhibits.

He has taught writing at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Drake University, Clark University, Ohio University and the University of Denver. Since 1983 he has served as Professor of English at Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Masters married Polly Jo McCulloch in 1955; they had three children. In 1994 he married the writer Kathleen George. They reside in Pittsburgh's Mexican War Streets.