David Carroll Eddings (July 7, 1931 – June 2, 2009) was an American fantasy writer. With his wife Leigh, he authored several best-selling epic fantasy novel series, including The Belgariad (1982–84), The Malloreon (1987–91), The Elenium (1989–91), The Tamuli (1992–94), and The Dreamers (2003–06). Whether credited as the sole author or with Leigh, David Eddings wrote over two dozen novels.

Early life, family and education

Eddings was born in Spokane, Washington, to George Wayne Eddings and Theone (Berge) Eddings, in 1931. Eddings claimed to be part Cherokee. He had a younger brother, Dennis; a sister, Kay; and a half-brother, Richard Blake. After graduating from Snohomish High School in 1949, he worked for a year before majoring in speech, drama and English at junior college. Eddings displayed an early talent for drama and literature, winning a national oratorical contest, and performing the male lead in most of his drama productions. He graduated with a BA from Reed College in 1954, writing his first novel, How Lonely Are The Dead, as his senior thesis. After graduating from Reed College, Eddings was drafted into the US Army, After being discharged in 1956, Eddings attended the graduate school of the University of Washington in Seattle for four years, graduating with an MA in 1961 after submitting a novel in progress, Man Running, for his thesis. High Hunt was a contemporary story of four young men hunting deer. Like many of his later novels, it explores themes of manhood and coming of age.

Eddings and his wife were convicted of child abuse (see lower section). He did not return to academia after his jail term was completed. After a short period in Denver, David and Leigh Eddings moved to Spokane, where he relied on a job at a grocery shop for his funds, and worked at the writing in his spare time. High Hunt was published in early 1972 by G. P. Putnam's Sons to modestly positive reviews.

Eddings continued to work on several unpublished novels, including Hunseeker's Ascent, a story about mountain climbing, which was later burned, as Eddings claimed it was "a piece of tripe so bad it even bored me." He began to annotate the map doodle, which became the basis for his fictional country of Aloria. Pawn of Prophecy, the first volume in the series, was issued in April 1982. The next four novels where published between then and 1984 and proved to be popular. Eddings continued to produce fantasy novels for the rest of his life, usually producing a book every year or two.

From 1995 onwards, the novels were credited jointly to Leigh Eddings; Eddings explained in a foreword that their working together as authors "had been the case from the beginning." This is generally accepted as broadly accurate, although Eddings scholar James Gifford notes that collaboration would have been "impossible" with High Hunt, as David Eddings' own notes show that the first draft was completed while he and Leigh were both in separate jails, about half-way through their terms. while using water to flush the vehicle's gas tank. Eddings cared for her at home with her mother after her first stroke, which occurred three years before he finished writing The Dreamers. Eddings also bequeathed $10 million to the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, Colorado, for pediatric asthma treatment and research; Eddings' wife Leigh had asthma throughout her life.

Bibliography

Eddings (both with and without his wife's credit as author) wrote over two dozen novels.

  • Interview with David Eddings at sffworld.com
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