Robert Worth Bingham IV[1][2] (March 14, 1966[3] – November 28, 1999) was an American writer and a founding editor of the Open City Magazine.[4]

Early life

A member of a wealthy family from Louisville, Kentucky, his great-grandfather was the politician and newspaper publisher Robert Worth Bingham,[3] and his grandfather, Barry Bingham, Sr., went into the family newspaper businesses as an editor and publisher.[2] Bingham's father, Robert Worth Bingham III (known by his middle name), who also worked in the family business and was expected to take over,[5] was killed aged 34 in a car accident while on vacation at Cape Cod in 1966, when his son was only three months old.[3][6]

Bingham graduated from Brown University in 1988. He then received a Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University.[7]

Career

After graduating from Columbia, his fiction and non-fiction appeared in The New Yorker, and he worked for two years as a reporter for the Cambodia Daily. He wrote the short story collection Pure Slaughter Value and the novel Lightning on the Sun.[8]

Personal life

Bingham died of a heroin overdose at age 33 on November 28, 1999, six months after marrying Vanessa Scharven Chase, daughter of Theodore Chase Jr, professor of biochemistry at Cook College, Rutgers University[9] a Harvard graduate art historian,[3] and five months before the publication of his novel.[10]

Bingham was a close friend of musician Stephen Malkmus; Malkmus played a show at Bingham's wedding, and served as an usher at his funeral.[11] The title of "Church on White," a song from Malkmus's debut album, Stephen Malkmus, refers to Bingham's old New York City address.[11][12]

Bingham was also a friend of the late poet/musician David Berman (leader of the band Silver Jews); the song "Death Of An Heir of Sorrows", from Silver Jews' 2001 album Bright Flight, is an elegy for Bingham.[13]

Legacy

In Bingham's honor, the PEN American Center has established the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize, which awards $25,000 to the most exceptionally talented fiction writer whose debut work represents distinguished literary achievement.[14]

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Amelia Hill (July 2001). "The life and death of Robert Bingham". the Guardian.
  2. 1 2 "Robert W. Bingham Iv, 33, Scion Of Kentucky Newspaper Family". tribunedigital-chicagotribune.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Adrian Dannatt (23 October 2011). "Obituary: Robert Bingham". The Independent.
  4. ↑ OPEN CITY Accessed September 21, 2006.
  5. ↑ "Bingham, 72, Heir to Media Empire, Dies". thecrimson.com.
  6. ↑ "The Binghams of Louisville : Family Tragedy and Feuds Bring Down Media Empire". Los Angeles Times. 1986-01-19.
  7. ↑ BAM: Obituaries, The Classes, March/April 2000 Archived 2006-11-26 at the Wayback Machine Accessed September 21, 2006.
  8. ↑ Kakutani, Michiko (14 April 2000). "BOOKS OF THE TIMES; All Washed Up in a Heart Of Darkness? No Way". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  9. ↑ "WEDDINGS; Ms. Chase and Mr. Bingham". The New York Times. 1999-05-23.
  10. ↑ Stacey D'Erasmo. Wasted - New York Times Published April 23, 2000. Accessed September 21, 2006.
  11. 1 2 Spin magazine, Spin Media, March 2001, pg 94
  12. ↑ "In Brief: Stephen Malkmus". NYMag.com.
  13. ↑ http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/silver-into-gold/Content?oid=1186535
  14. ↑ PEN American Center - PEN/Robert Bingham Fellowship for Writers Updated 2004. Accessed September 21, 2006.
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