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Sadly, the Northwest Arkansas News reported the passing of Miller Williams. Sincere Condolences for the loss of your Father.
Very sorry to hear that. Glad the father-daughter collaboration occurred in time. My deepest sympathy to Ms. Williams and family.
Famed Arkansas poet Miller Williams, who founded the University of Arkansas Press and read a poem at President Bill Clinton’s 1997 inauguration, died Thursday night at a Fayetteville hospital after years of battling Alzheimer’s disease, a family friend confirmed.
Williams, 84, was born in Hoxie and moved around as a child while his father worked as a Methodist minister, according to an Encyclopedia of Arkansas entry.
He graduated from Arkansas State College — now Arkansas State University — with a degree in biology in 1951 and published his first collection of poems in 1952, called Et Cetera.
Williams taught biology at several schools before getting a job in the Louisiana State University’s English Department with the help of Flannery O’Connor in 1962, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. He returned to Arkansas in 1970 to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
In the decades that followed, Williams received numerous awards and published several more collections of poetry.
At the Clinton inauguration, Williams read “Of History and Hope,” which he described in a 2013 Oxford American interview as a “consideration of how a look at a nation’s past might help determine where it could be led in the future.”
Williams married twice and had three children, including singer and songwriter Lucinda Williams.
“He was a wonderful teacher,” said Linda Sheets, a friend of the Williams family, who was reached at the family’s home. “He loved sharing what he knew about writing, and I learned a lot from him.”
Williams edited a recent book project by Sheets about rescued animals, which she said was the last project he worked on as an editor.
A journalist once described Williams as the Hank Williams of U.S. poetry, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
Sheets said Miller Williams would have been delighted to know that he also died on the same day — Jan. 1 — that Hank Williams died in 1953.
Miller Williams was a big fan, also viewing Hank Williams’ songs as poetry. He also once met Hank Williams at a gas station bar, Sheets said.
A journalist at Arkansas Educational Television Network remarked in 2009 that Miller Williams’ poetry was read in Ivy League schools but also enjoyed by squirrel hunters and taxi drivers.
“He wrote the kind of poetry that was deep but also easy to understand,” Sheets said. (NWAonline.com)
Condolences to Lucinda, Robert and Karyn.
Glad that “Compassion” was released before Millers passing.
lwj
I just heard this news on Facebook. I am heartbroken for Lu, Tom, and Jordan. I had the distinct pleasure & honor of meeting Mr. Williams on several occasions – including one incredible, once-in-a-lifetime evening in Fayetteville, Arkansas when I visited with the four of them at Miller & Jordan’s home. Miller gave me a tour of his personal library, which was filled with a lifetime of incredible memorabilia. What a remarkable, remarkable man he was…
Lu & TO – you have Sarah’s & my deepest sympathies. May you be held up, supported & comforted in this time of sadness & loss. God Bless…
Tom
@Lefty wrote:
Famed Arkansas poet Miller Williams, who founded the University of Arkansas Press and read a poem at President Bill Clinton’s 1997 inauguration, died Thursday night at a Fayetteville hospital after years of battling Alzheimer’s disease, a family friend confirmed.
Williams, 84, was born in Hoxie and moved around as a child while his father worked as a Methodist minister, according to an Encyclopedia of Arkansas entry.
He graduated from Arkansas State College — now Arkansas State University — with a degree in biology in 1951 and published his first collection of poems in 1952, called Et Cetera.
Williams taught biology at several schools before getting a job in the Louisiana State University’s English Department with the help of Flannery O’Connor in 1962, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. He returned to Arkansas in 1970 to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
In the decades that followed, Williams received numerous awards and published several more collections of poetry.
At the Clinton inauguration, Williams read “Of History and Hope,” which he described in a 2013 Oxford American interview as a “consideration of how a look at a nation’s past might help determine where it could be led in the future.”
Williams married twice and had three children, including singer and songwriter Lucinda Williams.
“He was a wonderful teacher,” said Linda Sheets, a friend of the Williams family, who was reached at the family’s home. “He loved sharing what he knew about writing, and I learned a lot from him.”
Williams edited a recent book project by Sheets about rescued animals, which she said was the last project he worked on as an editor.
A journalist once described Williams as the Hank Williams of U.S. poetry, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
Sheets said Miller Williams would have been delighted to know that he also died on the same day — Jan. 1 — that Hank Williams died in 1953.
Miller Williams was a big fan, also viewing Hank Williams’ songs as poetry. He also once met Hank Williams at a gas station bar, Sheets said.
A journalist at Arkansas Educational Television Network remarked in 2009 that Miller Williams’ poetry was read in Ivy League schools but also enjoyed by squirrel hunters and taxi drivers.
“He wrote the kind of poetry that was deep but also easy to understand,” Sheets said. (NWAonline.com)
A propos of the first paragraph here and the third paragraph from the end, Hank and Miller Williams left this world on the same date, 62 years apart.
My deepest condolences.
My deepest condolences on the passing of your father, Lu. My thoughts and prayers are with you, Tom, and your family.
I am truly brokenhearted over the death of Miller Williams, but will forever celebrate his poetry and writings. Miller’s influence is enduring; I for one am a better person for having read and learned from his poetry. We are blessed that he was so prolific and the range of his poetry so astonishingly broad… his is a body of work that will shine brightly in his physical absence. I only wish that I could have shaken his hand and said all of this in person. Eternal love to and respect to Miller and loving thoughts and prayers to Lucinda and family. Vivian
@LWjetta wrote:
Condolences to Lucinda, Robert and Karyn.
Glad that “Compassion” was released before Millers passing.
lwj
➡ ➡ ➡
http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2014/09/lucinda-williams-precious-things-1.html?src=longreads
This may have been posted earlier elsewhere…
@Lefty wrote:
http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2014/09/lucinda-williams-precious-things-1.html?src=longreads
This may have been posted earlier elsewhere…
Such sad news about LU`s dad, our thoughts are with Lucinda and all her family at this time.
Superb read Lefty, and this final sentence at the end from her Dad really hit home..”What most deeply touches me in your songs is the fact that what they say is not really about you, but about the listener; this is what makes them so important to those who hear them.”
Must be a great comfort to Lucinda at this diffficult time, and something wonderful to look back on in future years and make her so proud.
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