Burton Hatlen

Burton Norval Hatlen (April 9, 1936 - January 21, 2008) was an American literary scholar and professor at the University of Maine. Hatlen worked closely with Carroll F. Terrell, an Ezra Pound scholar and co-founder of the National Poetry Foundation, to build the Foundation into an internationally known institution. Hatlen was seen as a mentor by several of his former students, most notably author Stephen King and his wife, Tabitha King. In a postscript included in his 2006 novel, Lisey's Story, King said of Hatlen, "Burt was the greatest English teacher I ever had." Burton Hatlen was born on April 9, 1936, in Santa Barbara, California. His father Julius immigrated in 1907 from Norway. He married Lily Torvend, a second generation...