Douglas T. Day III, 72; Won National Book Award for Biography

Douglas Turner Day III, 72, who won the National Book Award in 1974 for his biography of Malcolm Lowry, the author of “Under the Volcano,” died Oct. 10 at his home in Charlottesville, Va., of what police said was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Day, a retired professor at the University of Virginia, also wrote “Journey of the Wolf,” a 1978 novel that won a Rosenthal Award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. As an editor, he restored William Faulkner’s novel “Flags in the Dust,” which had been published in 1929 in a truncated form under the title “Sartoris.”

Lowry’s “Under the Volcano” is considered one of the finest novels of the 20th century. Working with the author’s widow, Day also edited for posthumous publication Lowry’s “Dark as the Grave Wherein My Friend Is Laid” in 1969.

Born in Colon, Panama, Day was the son of a U.S. Navy rear admiral. He earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Virginia.

He also served as a pilot in the Marine Corps.