Yale Class of '52
Artists & Authors

David L. Goodrich
Yale 1952

In addition to The Real Nick and Nora, Dave has published magazine fiction and nonfiction, plus two other nonfiction books and a novel. This book about his famous uncle and aunt, Francis Goodrich and Albert Hackett, has been highly acclaimed as you can see from the brochure displayed.

“The title comes from their having written The Thin Man: many people felt they were a lot like witty, sophisticated Nick and Nora Charles. The Hacketts fought the studio bosses in the 30's to help found the Screen Writers Guild; they were warm and generous and famed for their Bel Air dinner parties; their many friends included James Cagney, Scott Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker, Ogden Nash, S. J. Perelman, Dashiell Hammett, and Lillian Hellman. “

James H. Ryan
Yale 1952
Harvard Medical School 1956

Jim is currently a Professor of Psychiatry, Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. He started painting two years ago and has had his works in two shows. Ten of his paintings already have been sold.

Max, shown in this exhibit, is a portrait of his son. There is a striking resemblance to the former Yale quarterback.

William H. Goetzmann
Yale 1952
Ph.D. Yale 1957

Since 1989 Bill has been the Jack Blanton Senior Professor of History and American Studies at the University of Texas, Austin. He is a prolific writer having published eighteen books, seventy-five articles and numerous introductions and forewords. Among his numerous awards is the 1967 Pulitzer Prize in American History for Exploration and Empire: The Explorer and Scientist in the Winning of the American West (Alfred A. Knopf 1966). He also received the Francis Parkman Prize that same year for this publication.

Among those on display we call attention to The West of the Imagination, a book co-authored with his son, William N. Goetzmann, who is Beinecke Professor of Finance and Director of the International Center for Finance at Yale. This book accompanies a six-part television series for PBS which aired nationwide beginning September 26, 1986.

In addition to his award-winning book, the following publications reflect his contributions to the field of history and are in the Sterling Library:

Army Exploration in the American West, 1803-1863

Looking Far North: The Harriman Expedition to Alaska, 1989

New Lands, New Men: America and the Second Great Age of Discovery

The West of Imagination

The Atlas of North American Discovery: From the Norse Voyages to the Race to the Pole

Sam Chamberlain's Mexican War: The San Jacinto Museum of History Paintings