Peter Taylor, 1917-1994, was the author of eight books of stories, including The Widows of Thornton and The Old Forest, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 1985; three novels, including A Summons to Memphis, winner of the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and the 1986 Ritz/Hemingway Prize; and three books of plays. He was Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia.