Dale Salwak is a professor of English at southern California's Citrus College and a recipient of Purdue University's Distinguished Alumni Award as well as a National Defense Education Act fellowship from the University of Southern California where he earned his Ph.D. He is the author of numerous books, including "Kingsley Amis: Modern Novelist" and "Carl Sandburg: A Reference Guide," and the editor of "The Wonders of Solitude," "Anne Tyler as Novelist" (Iowa, 1994), "Philip Larkin: The Man and His Work" (Iowa, 1989), and "The Life and Work of Barbara Pym "(Iowa, 1987).