Karl Beckson

Karl E. Beckson (February 4, 1926 – April 29, 2008) was an American educator, scholar, and author of numerous articles and sixteen books on British literature, culture, and authors including Oscar Wilde, Arthur Symons, and Henry Harland.

He co-authored, with Arthur Ganz, Literary Terms: A Dictionary, first published in 1960, and still available in its extensively revised 1990 third edition.

At Columbia, he studied with Lionel Trilling, Mark Van Doren, and William York Tindall.

He taught at Brooklyn College, City University of New York, from 1961 until his retirement in 2004 having held the title of professor since 1976.

In 1943, at age 17, he volunteered for the United States Navy, serving to yeoman 2nd class aboard the destroyer USS Ross (DD-563), the only ship in U.S. naval history to survive two underwater mine explosions (Leyte Gulf, South Pacific).