Meserve, Walter J.

Walter Joseph Meserve (March 10, 1923 – November 5, 2023) was an American academic, playwright, critic, and author of books on theater. He is a Fellow of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Meserve's An Outline History of American Drama has been called "a highly valuable "vest pocket" history of the American drama which should be on the shelf of every teacher of contemporary theater, every critic, and every student with an interest in modern drama". The American Historical Review said his book about American drama during the Andrew Jackson era "brings much of Quinn's carefulness and Odell's enthusiasm to embroidering their work", but added that "Meserve's gestures to the new are disappointingly fainthearted". Meserve died in Brooklin, Maine on November 5, 2023, at the age of 100.