American writer and educator. He graduated from Harvard in 1958 as the first person in Harvard history to be selected as both Latin Salutatory Orator and Class Poet. When he earned his Ph.D. in 1964, he was already on the faculty of Yale (1964-1972), teaching the classics and comparative literature. Segal continued to teach as a visiting professor at Princeton, the University of Munich and Dartmouth. In 1987 he retired as Adjunct Professor of Classics at Yale and became a Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford.
In addition to his most important academic book, “Roman Laughter: The Comedy of Plautus,” (Harvard University Press, 2nd ed. rev Oxford) Professor Segal has published widely on Greek Tragedy, Latin Poetry and ancient athletics. He has delivered papers before the American Philological Association, The American Comparative Literature Association, as well as the German Italian and British Classical Societies.
Over the past quarter-century, Segal’s verse translations of the Roman playwright Plautus have won considerable acclaim. His collection of “Plautus: Four Comedies” is noted in The Oxford World’s Classics series.
Not only an academic, Segal has surprisingly developed his more plebian talents in writing popular literature, such as a screenplay for the Beatles’ “The Yellow Submarine,” 1968, followed by other screenplays and adaptations. His novel “Love Story” was probably his most famous book made into film, with its sequel “Oliver’s Story,” 1977.
In 1970, when Segal’s first novel, “Love Story” was published, it became an overnight sensation; eventually selling more than 21 million copes in 33 languages. For the screenplay, Segal received the 1970 Golden Globe Award as well as one of the film’s seven Oscar nomination and not incidentally, changed Segal’s life overnight
For some years, Segal spent his summers in Hollywood and his winters at Yale. Other novels include “The Class,” “Doctors,” “Acts of Faith” and “Prizes.”
A well-known but uninspired athlete, he is a long-distance runner who has completed over forty full-length marathons, winning once on 3/17/1963 in Washington, DC. Segal is married and has two daughters. Since 1987 he has resided near Oxford, England.
Segal suffered a fatal heart attack at his London home on January 17, 2010.
Link to Wikipedia biography