About the Author: Ed McClanahan

Edward Poage McClanahan was born in Brooksville, Kentucky in 1932 to Edward Leroy and Jesse (Poage) McClanahan. He attended school there and later in nearby Maysville, Kentucky where the family relocated in 1948. McClanahan graduated from Miami University with a B.A. in English in 1955 and from the University of Kentucky in 1958 with a M.A. in English. McClanahan taught English at Oregon State University, 1958-1962.

He received a Wallace Stegner Fellowship in 1962 and remained at Stanford University as E. H. Jones Lecturer in Creative Writing until 1972. During his time at Stanford, while also known by his hippie moniker "Captain Kentucky," McClanahan became good friends with author and fellow Stanford attendee Ken Kesey. McClanahan was an active member of Kesey's band of Merry Pranksters.


McClanahan currently resides in Lexington, Kentucky with his third wife, Hilda. He is active in Kentucky literary circles and can occasionally be seen, in full "Captain Kentucky" regalia, guest-lecturing to University of Kentucky creative writing workshops.