Early Morning: Remembering My Father, William Stafford
Noteworthy American poet William Stafford (1914-93) wrote early  in the morning, before the first light. His son, Kim, remembers  this and much more in his vivid, affectionate memoir, which  approaches its subject in anecdotal rather than linear fashion.  Kim, director of the Northwest Writing Institute at Lewis &  Clark College in Oregon and himself the author of several books  (A Thousand Friends of Rain; Having Everything Right), recalls  his father's great love of his childhood home in Kansas,  conscientious objector status during World War II, early days as  a laborer, later days as a teacher, grueling work ethic, and  approach to what he called "the great emergency of being alive."  Stafford wrote poetry daily-some critics say he was too  prolific-but, as revealed here, father and son shared other  interests having nothing to do with writing. Kim's prose is  poetic and lyrical, and he makes liberal use of excerpts from  his father's poetry as a means of underscoring his own view of  his father. Recommended for public and academic  libraries.Robert L. Kelly, Fort Wayne Community Schs., INCopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.