UNC professor emeritus Doris Betts dies at 79

Doris Betts, celebrated fiction writer and former professor in UNC’s creative writing department, died Saturday at the age of 79, more than a year after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

The author of nine novels and short story collections, Betts joined the University faculty in 1966, where she taught creative writing for 30 years. In 1982, she was the first woman to lead the faculty.

During her time at the University, Betts received a Guggenheim Fellowship in creative writing and three Sir Walter Raleigh awards for North Carolina fiction.

Some of her best known works include the novel “Souls Raised from the Dead” and the short story “The Ugliest Pilgrim,” which was made into an Academy Award-winning film and a musical that won the 1998 New York Drama Critics Circle Award.

“The South has lost one of its most distinctive voices with the passing of Doris Betts,” Chancellor Holden Thorp said in a statement released Sunday.

“She leaves behind a rich literary legacy, many friends who mourn her and hundreds of writers who developed their talent in her classes.”

Joseph Flora, a professor emeritus in UNC’s English department, was Betts’ friend and colleague during her time at the University.

“She was a person who bounced with energy and joy,” he said.

“Obviously, students liked that.”

Betts — who grew up in Statesville and attended UNC-Greensboro — primarily set her fiction in North Carolina and wrote about characters native to the state, Flora said.

Flora said he has often included Betts’ works of fiction on syllabi for his classes in southern literature.

“Her characters think about the world, about their families, about what it all means away from their careers,” he said.

Betts and her work are the foundation for the Doris Betts Distinguished Professorship in Creative Writing — the first endowed professorship in UNC’s creative writing program.

The professorship fund is used by the University’s College of Arts and Sciences to attract or retain a distinguished teacher and scholar of creative writing.

Pam Durban, a professor in the creative writing department, has held the professorship since 2002.

Flora said that through her books and friendships, Betts leaves behind a legacy that won’t be forgotten.

“There was a special vibrancy to her,” he said.

“That was one of her great traits.”

“She was loyal to her parents, her children, her colleagues — and she loved UNC.”

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