author
William Sloane Kennedy
1850–1929
Best remembered as one of Walt Whitman’s most devoted champions, this American man of letters wrote warmly and persuasively about the poet he admired. His work blends biography, criticism, and firsthand literary history in a way that still feels personal.
1 Audiobook
John Greenleaf Whittier: His Life, Genius, and Writings
by William Sloane Kennedy
About the author
Born in Brecksville, Ohio, in 1850, William Sloane Kennedy studied at Yale, graduating in 1875, and later attended Harvard Divinity School before leaving to pursue a literary career. He worked as a journalist and literary figure, and reliable archival sources describe him as a biographer, editor, and critic.
Kennedy is most closely linked with Walt Whitman. He met Whitman in the late nineteenth century and became one of his strongest admirers and defenders, later writing Reminiscences of Walt Whitman and The Fight of a Book for the World, two books that helped preserve both Whitman’s personality and the story of how Leaves of Grass was received.
Beyond his writing, Kennedy left a lasting mark as a collector of Whitman materials. His papers and Whitman-related collection became an important legacy at Rollins College, reflecting a lifelong commitment to American literary culture. He died in 1929.