Jack Farris, a novelist, poet and playwright, died Nov. 26, 1998 in Silver Spring, MD, the New York Times reported. He was 77. The cause of death was heart failure. Farris, a romantic literature professor at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN, for many years, wrote Into Thy Narrow Bed, a play first produced at Circuit Playhouse in Memphis in 1981.
He also wrote a clutch of novels, including "Me and Gallagher" (1982), "A Man to Ride With" (1953), "The Abiding Gospel of Claude Dee Moran Jr." (1987) and "Keeping the Faith" (1990).
His 1951 novel, "Ramey," became a 1974 NBC TV movie, "The Greatest Gift" with Glenn Ford (itself the pilot for the series, "The Holvaks").
His is survived by a wife, Anna, a son, Steve, of Camden, AR, daughter Carrie of New York City, and six grandchildren, the Times reported.
-- By Kenneth Jones
