Beidler, who was of German and Quaker descent, was born October 29, 1944, in Adams, Pennsylvania.^[1] He did his undergraduate studies at Davidson College.^[5] During 1969 and 1970, he served as a lieutenant in an armored cavalry platoon in Vietnam.^[6][7][8] He received master's and doctoral degrees in English from the University of Virginia—the latter in 1974.^[9][5]

He became a professor at the University of Alabama in the mid-1970s, served as director of graduate studies and as assistant dean, and was awarded the 1999 Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award.^[5] He was eventually named the Margaret and William Going Professor of English and, at the time of his death, he was a professor emeritus of English at the University of Alabama.^[10][11]

Beidler suffered from Parkinson's during the last years of his life. He died April 20, 2022.^[2]

Vietnam literature edit

• American Literature and the Experience of Vietnam. Athens: U of Georgia P. 1982. ISBN 9780820306124.^[12][13]
• Re-writing America: Vietnam Authors in Their Generation. Athens: U of Georgia P. 1991. ISBN 9780820312644.^[12][14]
• Scriptures for a Generation: What We Were Reading in the '60s. Athens: U of Georgia P. 1994.^[15]
• Late Thoughts on an Old War: The Legacy of Vietnam. Athens: U of Georgia P. 2004.

Alabama literature edit

• The art of fiction in the heart of Dixie: An anthology of Alabama writers. Tuscaloosa: U of Alabama P. 1986. ISBN 978-0-8173-0313-6.
• Many voices, many rooms: a new anthology of Alabama writers. Tuscaloosa: U of Alabama P. 1998. ISBN 978-0-8173-0867-4.

• Philip Beidler, professor emeritus, the University of Alabama English Department
• An interview with Beidler on Alabama Public Television