KIT REED

KIT REED, 85, author and resident writer at Wesleyan, died Sept. 24, 2017. A graduate of the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, she worked as a reporter for the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times and for the New Haven (Conn.) Register, where she twice was named New England Newspaperwoman of the Year. She moved to Middletown in 1960 when her husband, Joe Reed, professor of English and of American studies, emeritus, took a position at Wesleyan. In 1964 she became a visiting professor of English, then an adjunct professor of English in 1987, and resident writer in 2008. A former Guggenheim fellow, she was the first American recipient of an international literary grant from the Abraham Woursell Foundation. Her work has been nominated for the Locus Award, the Campbell Award, the World Fantasy Award, and the Tiptree Award; she was twice nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award. Instrumental in the construction of the Creative Writing Program, she helped to attract notable writers from across the country, both within the program and yearly at the Wesleyan Writers Conference. Many notable writers came through her care, and many remained lifelong friends. A prolific novelist and short-story writer, she wrote 39 books of fiction. She is known not only for her science fiction, but also for her fantasy writing and paranormal and mystery genres. Her last short story, “Disturbance in the Produce Aisle” was published in Asimov’s Magazine the month she died. In addition to her husband, Joe Reed, three children and their families survive.