Carl Frederick Buechner was an American writer, novelist, poet, autobiographer, essayist, preacher, and theologian. He was born on July 11, 1926 to parents Katherine Kuhn and Carl Frederick Buechner Sr.
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Buechner was the eldest son of Katherine Kuhn and Carl Frederick Buechner Sr., and he was born in New York City.
Buechner’s early childhood saw his family move frequently, owing to his father’s search for work.
Buechner wrote of his travails as a child in The Sacred Journey Buechner and he recalled;
“Virtually every year of my life until I was fourteen, I lived in a different place, had different people to take care of me, went to a different school. The only house that remained constant was the one where my maternal grandparents lived in a suburb of Pittsburgh called East Liberty…Apart from that one house on Woodland Road, home was not a place to me when I was a child. It was people.”
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Frederick Buechner, image via: Christianity TodaySadly, in 1936, Buechner’s father committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning, which was as a result of his conviction that he had been a failure.
After his father’s untimely and sad death, the family moved to Bermuda, where they remained until World War II forced the evacuation of Americans from the island.
While residing in Bermuda, Buechner experienced “the blessed relief of coming out of the dark and unmentionable sadness of my father’s life and death into fragrance and greenness and light.”
Bermuda left a lasting impression on Buechner as the distinctly British flavor of pre-World War II Bermuda provided in him a lifelong appreciation of English custom and culture, which would later inspire such works as Godric and Brendan.
Buechner also frequently mentions Bermuda in his memoirs, including Telling Secrets and The Sacred Journey.
Sadly, Buechner passed away on August 15, 2022 at age 96.
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