Donald Heiney; Co-Founder of UC Irvine’s Writing Program

Donald Heiney, a longtime UC Irvine English professor and one of the founders of the school’s acclaimed graduate writing program, died Saturday of a heart attack at his Newport Beach home. He was 71.

Heiney taught at the Irvine campus for 26 years before retiring in 1991. Under the pen name MacDonald Harris, he wrote 16 novels, including “Glad Rags,” “Hemingway’s Suitcase” and “The Balloonist,” which was nominated for the National Book Award in 1976.

Novelist Oakley Hall, who co-directed the fiction portion of the Irvine Program in Writing with Heiney for nearly 20 years, said:

“He and I built the best writing program in the country, and there are a great number of successful young writers whose careers were advanced by Don’s very expert advice,” including Pat Geary, Roberta Smoodin, Marti Leimbach and Michael Chabon.

At the time of his death, Heiney’s 17th novel was being circulated among publishers by his literary agent and he was at work on his 18th. His most recent novel, the Laguna Beach-set “A Portrait of My Desire,” was published this year and is considered one of his best.

Heiney began writing the book shortly after leaving UC Irvine, where he had been instrumental in establishing the Department of English and Comparative Literature.

Retirement from the academic world seemed to agree with him.

“I think I’m not so much producing more, but I’m producing better, “ he said in a Times interview shortly after his latest novel’s publication.

Heiney is survived by his wife of 45 years, Ann; his sons, Conrad and Paul, and one grandson.