At a glance
Dr. Richard Kellogg, professor of psychology, Alfred State College, participated in an Open House at the historic Higgins-Ballard-Wylie home in Rushford, Sept. 6, 2009. The current owner of the home, Ronald Beverly, played the role of NYS Gov. Frank Higgins, who was born in the home and spent his early years in Rushford.
Dr. Richard Kellogg, professor of psychology, Alfred State College, participated in an Open House at the historic Higgins-Ballard-Wylie home in Rushford, Sept. 6, 2009. The current owner of the home, Ronald Beverly, played the role of NYS Gov. Frank Higgins, who was born in the home and spent his early years in Rushford. The role of Dr. Ballard, the village physician who occupied the home for many years, was played by a member of the Ballard family. Kellogg impersonated author Philip Wylie, who spent summers in Rushford from 1938, the year in which he married Dr. Ballard’s daughter, until his death in 1971.
Kellogg, who has written several articles on the literary legacy of Philip Wylie, notes that Wylie was one of the most prolific and popular writers in America for nearly 40 years. Wylie was propelled into the national spotlight following publication of his explosive best-seller Generation of Vipers in 1942. In this book, Wylie blasted many cherished American institutions such as big business, government bureaucracies, religious organizations, and the military. Philip Wylie became known as an iconoclastic social critic and an outspoken crusader for social and political reforms in our culture. In his later years, Wylie wrote often about ecological issues and was deeply concerned with the conservation of our natural environment.
Kellogg joined the Alfred State faculty in 1970 after completing doctoral studies at the University of Rochester. He is the author of three books on Sherlock Holmes and is a frequent contributor to popular magazines and professional journals.