| Contents |
Berea, Granville County, Tobacco Country, That Summer When the Creeks All Dried Up -- The Ogburns, Valedictorian of Cleveland High School, Writer, Editor, Atlantic Christian, Thoughts While Strolling, I Smoka Pipe Club -- Newspaperman, Marjorie, The City of a Million Azaleas, "I Saw God" -- The News and Observer, Josephus Daniels, James Boyd, Nancy, The Very Special You -- In a Field Hospital On Okinawa -- Ahoskie Case, Southern Accent, Talmadge, "The Girl in the Green Bathing Suit" -- Poet, The Tree in the Far Pasture, Professor, In a Perky Bow Tie -- The Pilot, Arts Council, Word Man, "Desk is always messy," "A forgotten flower has come forth to receive the hummingbird's pause" -- Secretary, "My Old Mule Is Dead," Weymouth, Jonathan, Thad, Paul, Bernice, Guy, "I watch this field of yellow daisies" -- Poet Laureate, John Patrick's Walnut Trees, Salute to St. Andrews, The Kudzu Man -- Let Us Walk into April, "Not just a newspaper but a work of art" -- Collected Poems, Tree Lover, Markings, "A great economy of language," "On the side of humanity" -- "Birth and death, and in between a little living," Goodbye to a Southern Gentleman -- Epilogue -- Commentary on Sam Ragan. |
| Abstract |
"This book details one of North Carolina's most famous poets, Sam Ragan. As editor of "The News and Observer" in Raleigh and "The Pilot" in Southern Pines, he made his mark in those fields, and also taught writing at North Carolina State University. For most of his career, Ragan traveled the state, moderating poetry and writing events, such as the annual Writers Roundtable. He made hundreds of speeches about literature and promoted North Carolina literary happenings. He was chosen as North Carolina Poet Laureate in 1982, a post he held until his death in 1996. As Secretary of Cultural Resources in the early 1970s, he used the position to promote arts throughout the state. He contributed to the formation of the North Carolina Writers Network in 1985. This book tells the story of Sam's life through his poetry, those who knew him, and his letters and diary entries"-- Provided by publisher. |
