Chaim Potok
Chaim Potok was born Herman Harold Potok in Buffalo, New York, to Polish immigrants, receiving an Orthodox Jewish education.
Inspired by Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, he began writing fiction at sixteen.
After graduating summa cum laude in English Literature, he was ordained as a Conservative rabbi and served as a U.S. Army chaplain in South Korea, a transformative experience that broadened his worldview.
He earned a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania and held prominent editorial positions, including editor-in-chief of the Jewish Publication Society.
He died in Merion, Pennsylvania, on July 23, 2002, aged 73.
