Millennium Magazine_4th Ed

37 Millennium - A Marquis Who’s Who Magazine ARTS, MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT P rofessional writing was always destined for Antony Oldknow, as he was taught to read and write using the King James Bible, and the young boys in his classes predicted he would be an important writer of “weird” novels. Therefore, Dr. Oldknow graduated from the University of Leeds in 1961 with a Bachelor of Arts in English, with honors. He also received a Master of Education from the University of Leeds in 1963, Master of Science in phonetics from the University of Edinburgh in 1964 and a PhD in English from the University of North Dakota in 1983. He immigrated to the United States in 1966. In the 1960s, Dr. Oldknow’s teaching career took off. He has taught English at multiple universities, including Eastern New Mexico University, where he is a distinguished professor emeritus, the University of Kansas, the University of Wisconsin, the University of North Dakota, Universite Laval in Canada, and Cowdenbeath Technical College in Scotland. Dr. Oldknow’s greatest mentor who inspired him to teach was George Richard Wilson Knight from the University of Leeds, who he credits as one of his finest instructors. Dr. Oldknow was inspired to write by his schoolteacher John Mowitz. Mr. Mowitz introduced him to the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins and Dr. Oldknow was immediately intrigued by Hopkins’ writing style and began tomimic his voice. Eventually, Dr. Oldknow’s stylemanifested into its own, and he followed his dreamof becoming awriter. Dr. Oldknow is now the author of several collections of short stories, poems and novels. Dr. Oldknow has had many career highlights. One of his major highlights was being named the chairman of the Council of Chairs at Eastern New Mexico University. He has also had the pleasure of having encounters with such prominent figures as T.S. Elliot, Dick Gregory, Anne Sexton, Richard Nixon and Lyndon B. Johnson. Dr. Oldknow is a member of the Academy of American Poets. ANTONY OLDKNOW ENGLISH EDUCATOR, WRITER, PUBLISHER, VISUAL ARTIST Eastern New Mexico University Portales, NM