Ervin Krause, English Papers

Ervin Krause was born in Arlington, Nebraska, June 22, 1931. Attending Iowa State University from 1949-1953, he earned a BA in physics and math and wrote fiction and poetry for the university's literary journal. After he graduated, he worked as a technical writer for McDonell Aircraft in St. Louis, Missouri from 1953-1954. Krause served in the U.S Air Force from 1954-1956 and was stationed in England.

In 1956 he enrolled in the masters of English program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and continued graduate studies at UNL after earning his MA in August of 1957. Krause worked as an instructor at UNL and at the University of Wyoming before teaching literature and creative writing courses at the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, beginning in 1961. In the same year, he married Loretta Loose, whom he had met at UNL.

In addition to teaching, Krause wrote both fiction and non-fiction. His short fiction won major national awards. "The Snake" won second place in the O. Henry Prize in 1963, and "The Quick and the Dead," received third place honors in 1961. Those stories, along with "Metal Sky," "The Fall," "The Witch," and "The Shooters," were included in The Best American Short Stories series, edited by Martha Foley and David Burnett in the 1960s.

Ervin Krause died in Honolulu, Hawaii, on November 26, 1970. Along with numerous short stories, he had completed one military history and four novels at the time of his death.