Papers of William Murray, noted The New Yorker writer and published novelist. Materials document the literary and professional career of California-based writer noted for his mystery fiction and contemporary feature writing. The collection contains correspondence, both professional and personal; typescripts and drafts of published and unpublished literary works; appointment books and notebooks; biographical materials; and audiorecordings of his interviews, notes, and readings.

William Murray, born in New York City on April 8, 1926, was the only child of William Murray, head of the New York branch of William Morris talent agency and Danesi Murray, an Italian actress, opera singer, and publisher. At age 6 months, after his parents divorced, Murray moved with his mother to Rome, Italy; he returned to the United States at the age of 8. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy from 1942-1943, and, after graduating, he enrolled at Harvard, where he developed his interest in opera and singing. After college, he spent time in the Army Air Force and qualified for the GI Bill. He returned to Italy shortly after to pursue his opera career; when he lost his voice temporarily, he turned to fiction and journalism. Already a freelance writer and a stringer for TIME, he acquired his first professional job in the fiction department at the THE NEW YORKER in 1956 and continued as a staff writer for more than thirty years.

12.4 Linear feet (31 archives boxes)