Write to Learn

Written by one of the pioneers of the process-writing approach, the seventh edition of Donald Murray’s brief rhetoric continues to help students find their own style of writing.

Donald M. Murray was a Professor of English at the University of New Hampshire where he inaugurated a journalism program, helped establish a graduate program in Composition Studies, and served as director of Freshman English and English Department chairperson. He twice won awards for his teaching and was awarded honorary doctoral degrees by the University of New Hampshire in 1990, Fitchburg State College in 1992, and New Hampshire College in 1997. As a journalist, Murray won a number of awards including the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing in the _Boston Herald_ in 1954. He was an editor of _Time_ and has served as writing coach for several newspapers, including the _Boston Globe_ and the _Providence Journal_. In 1991 Boston magazine and in 1996 _Improper Bostonian_ magazine selected him best columnist in Boston. In 1997 the University of New Hampshire opened the Donald M. Murray Journalism Library. He received recognition for Lifetime Achievement during the New Hampshire Literary Awards in 2001. In 2003 _Writing on the Edge_ established the Donald M. Murray Prize. This award is given to the author of the best work of creative nonfiction on the subject of writing published the previous year.