Mason Wiley | |
---|---|
Born | Robert Mason Wiley (1955-05-30)May 30, 1955 Nash County, North Carolina, U.S. |
Died | October 7, 1994(1994-10-07) (aged 39) New York City, New York, U.S |
Education | |
Alma mater | Episcopal High School |
Occupation |
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Notable work | The Official Preppy Handbook |
Robert Mason Wiley (May 30, 1955 – October 7, 1994) was an author who co-wrote The Official Preppy Handbook and Inside Oscar: The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards.
Biography
Wiley was born in Nash County, North Carolina on May 30, 1955. He attended Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia and graduated from Columbia University in 1977.
While working for the Columbia Daily Spectator, he met future film critic and historian Damien Bona, who later became his writing collaborator.
He was one of the four authors of The Official Preppy Handbook, a humorous, best-selling reference book on prep culture published in 1980. As the only southerner among the writers, Wiley included Southern prep culture to offset the predominant New England vibes.
In 1986, he and Bona wrote a year-by-year account of the Academy Awards that took 4 years of writing and research, with a fourth edition published in 1993.
Wiley also was a critic for such publications as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, New York Newsday, Cosmopolitan, Time, Entertainment Weekly and others.
On October 7, 1994, Wiley died from the complications of AIDS.
References
- ^ "Mason Wiley; Writer, 39". The New York Times. 1994-10-09. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
- "Person Detail: Mason Wiley - The NYSCA Literary Map of New York State and The NYSCA Literary Tree". www.nyslittree.org. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
- Columbia College today. Columbia College, Office of Alumni Affairs and Development. 1988.
- "2013-14 Annual Report". Issuu. 6 November 2014. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
- Hevesi, Dennis (2012-02-10). "Damien Bona Dies at 56; Creator of Guide for Oscar Buffs". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
- Clendinen, Dudley (1981-01-04). "BEHIND THE BEST SELLERS; 'PREPPY HANDBOOK'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
- "Pop That Collar—Revisiting 'The Official Preppy Handbook'". Garden & Gun. 2015-08-14. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
- ^ "Obituaries : Mason Wiley; Wrote on Oscars". Los Angeles Times. 1994-10-17. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
- "The Faces of AIDS: 1994". EW.com. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
- 1955 births
- 1994 deaths
- AIDS-related deaths in New York (state)
- People from Nash County, North Carolina
- Columbia College (New York) alumni
- Episcopal High School (Alexandria, Virginia) alumni
- American male non-fiction writers
- American film critics
- Academy Awards
- Journalists from New York City
- American LGBTQ journalists
- 20th-century American LGBTQ people