ROSCO, Jerry 1953-

PERSONAL:

Born January 6, 1953, in New York, NY; son of Mario (an engineer) and Amelia (Young) Rosco. Ethnicity: "Italian-American." Education: Iona College, B.A. Politics: "Anti-war and ACT UP activist." Religion: "Agnostic." Hobbies and other interests: Animal protection organizations.

ADDRESSES:

Home—51 Bond St., New York, NY 10012. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Gannett Newspapers, worked as reporter; editor and copywriter for legal, business, and educational publishers; Mavety Magazines, New York, NY, associate editor, 1989-94; freelance writer and editor, 1994—.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with Robert Phelps) Continual Lessons: The Journals of Glenway Wescott, 1937-1955, Farrar, Straus & Giroux (New York, NY), 1990.

Glenway Wescott Personally: A Biography, University of Wisconsin Press (Madison, WI), 2002.

Work represented in anthologies. Contributor to periodicals, including Chicago Review, Literary Review, Sequoia, Lost Generation Journal, and James White Review.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Editing A Visit to Priapus and Other Stories, the unpublished stories of Glenway Wescott, completion expected in 2004; editing Wescott's final journals.

SIDELIGHTS:

Jerry Rosco told CA: "My personal talent is for articles, essays, and short stories, but also for editorial and biographical work—especially, of course, for Glenway Wescott. I was lucky to know Wescott in the last twelve or so years of his life and was greatly influenced by his love of and dedication to literature. As for Wescott's talent, there has been debate on whether he was a major or minor writer, based on his productivity. But there is little debate about the fact that he was one of America's great prose stylists. I am pleased to dedicate so much research and writing to this extraordinary man. As for my own work, some more stories and a political novel are what I'd like to accomplish."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 1, 2002, Donna Seaman, review of Glenway Wescott Personally: A Biography, p. 1300.

Library Journal, February 15, 2002, Charles C. Nash, review of Glenway Wescott Personally, p. 144.

Publishers Weekly, November 16, 1990, Genevieve Stuttaford, review of Continual Lessons: The Journals of Glenway Wescott, 1937-1955, p. 48.