| Alabama Album: Collected Poems Contributor(s): Blackshear, Helen F. (Author) |
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ISBN: 1603064052 ISBN-13: 9781603064057 Publisher: NewSouth Books OUR PRICE: $18.00 Product Type: Paperback Published: September 2016 * Not available - Not in print at this time * |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Poetry | American - General |
| Dewey: 811.54 |
| Physical Information: 0.34" H x 5.5" W x 8.5" (0.42 lbs) 144 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Deep South - Geographic Orientation - Alabama - Cultural Region - Southeast U.S. - Cultural Region - South - Sex & Gender - Feminine |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Helen Blackshear's poems are about the simple things we all share--a love of family, childhood memories, enjoyment of trees and gardens, the pleasures of friendship, and the dark days of loneliness and loss. She said the poems in this collection were her autobiography, written over a period of sixty years of a fully lived life. Some of her poems inspire laughter, while others reflect the grief she both witnessed and felt. Her love of history resonates in poems about the Creek Indians, the Civil War, and conflicts in the modern world. From the myriad of experiences that inspired them, her poems touch the hearts of readers of all ages. |
Contributor Bio(s): Blackshear, Helen F.: - Helen Friedman Blackshear was born in 1911 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where she grew up in the historic Battle-Friedman House. After graduating from Agnes Scott College in 1931, she earned an MA in English at the University of Alabama. Her thesis subject was her great-uncle Robert Loveman, Poet Laureate of Georgia, who taught her to love poetry. She began publishing poetry while in college and never stopped. Over her long life, she was widely published in journals, magazines, and anthologies. She was also a beloved English teacher in Montgomery for thirty-five years. In addition to her poetry, Mrs. Blackshear wrote three nonfiction books, Southern Smorgasbord, Mother was a Rebel, and From Peddler to Philanthropist: The Friedman Story, and a posthumously published biography of poet Sidney Lanier, Vanished in the Unknown Shade. She also published a collection of stories aimed at engaging middle school boys in history, Creek Captives and other Alabama Stories, based on true events from the state's early days. She was chosen Poet of the Year by the Alabama State Poetry Society in 1986 and was awarded the Distinguished Service Award in 1995 by the Alabama Writers' Conclave, of which she was a former president. In 1995, she was named the eighth Poet Laureate of Alabama by Governor Fob James. In 1996, she was inducted into the Robert E. Lee High School (Montgomery) Hall of Fame. She was married to William Mitchell Blackshear for fifty-three years, until his death in 1986. They had three daughters, eight grandchildren, and a growing number of great-grandchildren. Helen Blackshear died in 2003 and is buried in Montgomery, next to her husband.Williams, Horace Randall: - Randall Williams is an Alabama-based writer, editor, and book publisher.Blackshear, Helen: - Helen Friedman Blackshear served from 1995 to 1999 as Alabama's eighth poet laureate. A native and present resident of Tuscaloosa, she lived in Montgomery from 1934 to 2003. She has three daughters, eight grandchildren, and fourteen great-grandchildren. A graduate of Agnes Scott College, she also has an M.A. from the University of Alabama. She is the author of Mother Was a Rebel, Southern Smorgasbord, Creek Captives, Alabama Album, Silver Songs and From Peddler to Philanthropist: The Friedman Story. She also edited These I Would Keep, an anthology of poems by Alabama's first through ninth poet laureates. She has served as treasurer and vice-president of the Alabama Poetry Society and as president of the Alabama Writers' Conclave. She was Poet of the Year in 1986 and received the Distinguished Service Award from the Conclave in 1987. |