After serving in the army and graduating from Princeton, Frederick Buechner intended to be a writer. His debut work, ‘A Long Day’s Dying,’ was well-received. But, when his writing career stagnated, he felt compelled to address his spiritual emptiness. He began attending the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church and studied theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York, where he was impressed by the preaching of pastor George Buttrick. He was a driving force behind the establishment of Phillips Exeter Academy’s Religion Department. Aside from ‘A Long Day’s Dying,’ he also wrote ‘The Return of Ansel Gibbs,’ ‘The Season’s Difference,’ and ‘The Final Beast,’ among others. The four novels in the Bebb series, as well as ‘Godric,’ are among his most well-known works. ‘The Magnificent Defeat’ and ‘The Hungering Dark,’ both theological writings, are collections of his sermons. ‘The Sacred Journey,’ ‘Now and Then,’ ‘Telling Secrets,’ and ‘The Eyes of the Heart’ are four volumes of his memoirs. This theologian’s popularity stems from his ability to make faith and spirituality interesting subjects in contemporary literature without being preachy. The majority of his books are about overcoming obstacles. God will always support and protect us, he assured us.
Childhood and Adolescence
Carl Frederick Buechner was born in the city of New York in the United States. Katherine Kuhn and Carl Frederick Buechner are his parents. Carl’s employment changes meant the family couldn’t stay in one spot for long.
In 1936, his father, overcome by a sense of failure, committed suicide. After that, the family relocated to Bermuda. However, World War II caused them and other Americans to flee the island for safety reasons.
In 1943, he graduated from the Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. He became acquainted with James Merrill, a poet who would later win the Pulitzer Prize, at Lawrenceville, and began to foster literary dreams.
Between 1944 and 1946, he enrolled at Princeton University, but his studies were interrupted by his military service. He returned to Princeton and earned his bachelor’s degree.
Career of Frederick Buechner
Buechner’s debut novel, ‘A Long Day’s Dying,’ was released in 1950 and is his most successful novel, with Buechner’s style being compared favorably to Henry James and Marcel Proust.
His second novel, ‘The Season’s Difference,’ was a commercial flop when it was published in 1952. He came to New York City to concentrate on his writing career and began teaching at Lawrenceville.
He started going to the Presbyterian Church on Madison Avenue. Its pastor, George Buttrick, was moved by his preaching to enroll at Union Theological Seminary on a Rockefeller Brothers Theological Fellowship in 1954.
Paul Tillich, Reinhold Niebuhr, and James Muilenberg were among the great theologians who taught him at the seminary. They had a good impact on his writings and ministerial career.
In 1955, towards the end of his first year at the seminary, he took a sabbatical and traveled around Europe for a few months. ‘The Return of Ansel Gibbs,’ his third novel, was completed.
In 1958, ‘The Return of Ansel Gibbs’ was published. The novel detailed the story of a former statesman who was coaxed out of retirement by a cabinet job.
In 1958, he was ordained as a minister at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church. He joined Phillips Exeter Academy after being invited by the minister, Robert Russell Wicks, to establish a Department of Religion there.
From 1960 until 1967, he served as school pastor and teacher, as well as chairing the department for a year. The department had 300 students and four teachers at the conclusion of nine years.
The main protagonist of his 1965 novel ‘The Final Beast’ is a young minister and widower in a tiny New England town who is scandalously linked to a woman by the local newspaper editor.
In 1966, he released his first theological treatise, ‘The Magnificent Defeat.’ It was a compilation of sermons he preached at Exeter on the subject of surrendering oneself to God.
He and his family moved into a Vermont farmhouse in 1967. He was the William Belden Noble Lecturer at Harvard and published his second theological work, ‘The Hungering Dark,’ two years later.
In 1987, he wrote ‘Brendan,’ which was comparable to ‘Godric.’ It is set in the sixth century and tells the story of Saint Brendon, who is famous for his amazing voyages of discovery.
He wrote four volumes of memoirs between 1982 and 1999. ‘The Sacred Journey,’ ‘Now and Then,’ ‘Telling Secrets,’ and ‘The Eyes of the Heart’ were the titles of the books.
His emotional ties to Bermuda, where he spent time attempting to recuperate from the grief of his father’s suicide, inspired him to create ‘The Wizard’s Tide,’ which is narrated through the eyes of Teddy Schroeder, an 11-year-old boy.
‘The Yellow Leaves: a Miscellany,’ published in 2008, is a compilation of personal memories, poems, and essays. It isn’t his best work, but it does represent his previous work’s maturity.
Major Projects of Frederick Buechner
The novels ‘Lion Country,’ ‘Open Heart,’ ‘Love Feast,’ and ‘Treasure Hunt’ were part of the Book of Bebb tetralogy, which was released between 1972 and 1977. The tetralogy was well-received and received numerous awards.
The Pulitzer Prize was nominated for ‘Godric,’ which was published in 1980. He avoided using outdated terminology.
Awards of Frederick Buechner
Buechner won the O. Henry Award for ‘The Tiger,’ the Rosenthal Award for ‘The Return of Ansel Gibbs,’ and the Christianity and Literature Belles Lettres Prize for ‘The Return of Ansel Gibbs.’ He was a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist.
He was presented with the Conference on Christianity and Literature’s Lifetime Achievement award in 2007. He was recognized by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
Virginia Theological Seminary, Lafayette College, Lehigh University, Cornell College, Yale University, Susquehanna University, Wake Forest University, and King College have all bestowed honorary doctorates on him.
Personal History and Legacy
Judith was introduced to Buechner when he was a student at Union Theological Seminary. James Muilenberg married them in Montclair, New Jersey, in 1956. Katherine, Dinah, and Sharman are the couple’s three daughters.
In 2008, King College established ‘The Buechner Institute,’ which hosts an annual lecture. Guest lecturers have included Barbara Brown Taylor, Ron Hansen, Katherine Paterson, Marilynne Robinson, and Kathleen Norris.
Frederick Buechner’s Net Worth
Frederick is one of the wealthiest novelists and one of the most well-known. Frederick Buechner’s net worth is estimated to be $1.5 million, according to Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.
Trivia
“Compassion is often the fatal ability for feeling what it is like to live inside someone else’s flesh,” says this American theologian.
“It is as hard for a man to demonstrate the existence of God as it would be for Sherlock Holmes to demonstrate the existence of Arthur Conan Doyle,” said this American theologian.