Dean Faulkner Wells (1936-2011) was the daughter of William Faulkner’s youngest brother, Dean Swift Faulkner, a pilot who was killed in a plane crash in 1935. Her stories and articles have appeared in Parade Magazine, Ladies Home Journal and The Paris Review. A contributing editor for Southern Magazine, she was the author of Every Day by the Sun: A Memoir of the Faulkners of Mississippi,” and the editor of The Great American Writers’ Cookbook, The Great American Politicians’ Cookbook, and The Best of Bad Faulkner. She also wrote Belle-Duck at the Peabody, a children’s book about the ducks at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis.
The Ghosts of Rowan Oak
At “Rowan Oak,” his home in Oxford, Mississippi, William Faulkner told ghost stories to the children in his family, including his only niece, Dean Faulkner Wells, who has recounted these stories in The Ghosts of Rowan Oak. Though the world knew Faulkner as a Nobel Prize-winning author, Dean and her cousins called him “Pappy,” and knew him as the teller of tales tragic, sorrowful, funny and sometimes terrifying. Presented here are the haunting and heartbreaking story of Judith, the family ghost or poltergeist, the chilling tale of the Werewolf, and the macabre story of the Hound. This school edition of The Ghosts of Rowan Oak contains a Study Guide including an illustrated short biography of William Faulkner, questions for class discussion, and vocabulary lists. Introduction by Willie Morris. (For middle grade students.)
More info →Belle-Duck at The Peabody
by Dean Faulkner Wells; children's book (ages 7-9) about the ducks that swim in the fountain of Memphis's Peabody Hotel; illus. by Renee Boyles; cloth.
More info →The Ghosts of Rowan Oak, School Edition
In the 1940s at his home, Rowan Oak, in Oxford, Mississippi, Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner told ghost stories to the children in his family. Faulkner's niece, Dean Faulkner Wells, has recounted the haunting and heartbreaking story of "Judith," the chilling tale of "The Werewolf," and the macabre story of "The Hound." This school edition includes an Introduction by Willie Morris, illustrated biography of William Faulkner, with study guide including discussion questions, vocabulary lists and suggested class projects, paperback binding, 84 pages. Recommended for middle school students. "Dean Faulkner Wells describes Rowan Oak and the Pappy of her childhood with a rare eye and with the Faulkner care and genius for words, and with the emotion of love." (American Bookseller)
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