Wallace Stegner Biography and Letters
Books That Delve Into the Character of the Famous Author
Sep 29, 2009
Wallace Stegner wrote thirty four books and more than 400 essays as well as hundreds of letters. Meanwhile, he also taught non-fiction to support his family. Wallace Stegner and the American West and The Selected Letters of Wallace provide insights into the life and struggles of the author.
Wallace Stegner and the American West
Wallace Stegner and the American West explores the author's upbringing, passions, artistic influences and his demons. Although he influenced generations of writers but he himself was turned off by the counter-culture of the 1960s. While Stegner wanted to be known for his novels; he taught and wrote non-fiction to support his family. He became best known for his non-fiction accomplishments.
Those included being Bernard DeVoto's biographer, Beyond the Hundreth Meridian as well a many essays that he wrote as a protector the West's natural resources. Among those that he fought against was the damming of the Green River in Dinosaur National Monument as well as the sprawl in southern California.
In standing up for what he believed, Stegner declined the National Medal of the Arts from President George W. Bush, citing the administration's habit of censoring rather than supporting the arts.
While the author, Phillip A. Fradkin provides insights into Stegner's personal and professional life, it also includes some of the juicy gossip from the first half of the 20th century literary world. Fradkin reminds the reader that even the most illustrious writers are complex and even flawed figures.
The Selected Letters of Wallace Stegner
Wallace Stegner began each day by writing letters to literary agents, editors, secretaries of the interior, family members,former students, novelists and historians, and devoted readers. Among these, his son, Page Stegner, chose to include those that cover the span of years from 1933 to 1993 for this book. These touch upon what appears to be every aspect of the writer's working and private life.
The section titled "Reflections on the Works" offers insights into what Stegner thought about writing. "Angle of Repose" which he used as an idea that would become a signature.
"For years I have wondered why no western writer hd been able to make a continuity between the past and the present, why so many are sunk in the mythic twilight of horse opera, why the various Wests have produced no culture or literature compared to those of New England, the South and Midwest...Well, here was my chance to give it a try."
From his letters, it is clear that Stegner was rankled by the lack of critical recognition that he deserved. It included that although he had won a Pulitizer Prize for Angle of Repose in 1972, the New York times did not review it. However, his influence can be seen in the works of Edward Abbey, Wendell Berry, John Daniel, Ken Kesey, Bill Kittredge, Thomas McGuane, Scott Momaday, Tillie Olsen and Scott Turow.
In The Selected Letters of Wallace Stegner, readers learn about a one he wrote in 1960 to an obscure federal official in Washington that helped to clear the trail to the 1964 Wilderness Act. He wrote about nature and the wilderness because he loved them.
In a letter to editor and poet Jim Hepwroth, although an atheist, Stegner wrote, "conduct is what really matters to me: I am a moral writer, if not a religious one. I don't mean behavior, I mean conduct."
About the authors:
Phillip L. Fradkin is an environmental historian. His previous books include Fallout: An American Nuclear Tragedy and Sagebrush Country: Land and the American Way.
Page Stegner is the son of Wallace Stegner and has edited a number of books about his father's writing including Wallace Stegner's West.
Bibliography:
Fradkin, Phillip L. Wallace Stegner and the American West. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009
Stegner, Wallace and Page Stegner, editor. The Selected Letters of Wallace Stegner. Washington,D.C: Shoemaker & Hoard, 2007.
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