Paul Fussell, 88, author and Penn professor emeritus

Paul Fussell, 88, an acclaimed author of books on war, poetry, and class, and a professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, died Wednesday, May 23, in Medford, Ore., of natural causes.

His stepson Cole Behringer said Mr. Fussell died at a long-term care home in Medford, where he eventually relocated with his wife, Harriet Behringer-Fussell, after moving from Philadelphia in 2008.

Fussell's 1975 book, The Great War and Modern Memory, about the myths of World War I and the war's impact on literature, won the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and Modern Library publishing house named it one of the 20th century's best nonfiction books.

He joined the faculty of Penn in the early 1980s and retired about a decade later. For years he and his wife lived in an apartment on Walnut Street near Rittenhouse Square.

Mr. Fussell was born and raised in Pasadena, Calif., and attended Pasadena Junior College and Pomona College before being shipped off to Europe to fight in World War II, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts. After the war he completed his studies at Pomona College and later received a Ph.D. in 18th-century English literature from Harvard University.

He had two children, Rosalind and Sam, with his first wife, Betty Harper.

Mr. Fussell taught at Connecticut College and Rutgers University before arriving at Penn.

In a 1982 article in the Washington Post, a writer declared the colorfully opinionated Mr. Fussell "the nation's newest world-class curmudgeon." Mr. Fussell had just written an essay, "Notes on Class," that he planned to expand into a book.

He broadened that reputation with his 1991 book, BAD: or, The Dumbing of America.

"Jeremiads about the decline of America are not in especially short supply, but when the Jeremiah is Paul Fussell ... attention must be paid," wrote Christopher Buckley in the New York Times. "What he likes about the United States would fit comfortably under a gerbil's paw."

Mr. Fussell would return to writing about war, and criticized historian Stephen Ambrose, filmmaker Steven Spielberg, and news anchor Tom Brokaw for being what he called "military romanticists."

He appeared in Ken Burns' 2007 documentary, The War.

In addition to his two children, Mr. Fussell is survived by his wife; a sister, Florence Lind; and four stepchildren.

Memorial service arrangements are pending.

Contact Robert Moran at 215-854-5983 or bmoran@phillynews.com, or follow @RobertMoran215 on Twitter.