Midwest: Region Four
Arnold, Edmund
June 25, 1913 - February 2, 2007
Place of Birth: Bay City, MI
Biography:
Edmund Arnold was born to Anne and Ferdinand Arnold in Bay City, MI in 1913. He graduated from Arthur High School and Bay City Junior College in 1934. Arnold served as a combat correspondent during WWII, and afterwards bought the Frankenmuth News with a friend in 1946. Arnold was an early consultant and educator in graphic art design and pioneered cleaner displays of stories and pictures to hundreds of newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Newsday, New Orleans Times – Picayune, Boston Globe, Toronto Star, and National Observer. Arnold spent four decades as a design consultant and made changes in newspaper design that have now become standard practice. He installed bigger type, six columns of print instead of eight, and a modular layout that organized stories into squares instead of long, haphazard chunks of text overlapping one another. Besides working as an editor for Frankenmuth News, Arnold served as a picture editor for Saginaw News, a night editor for The State Journal, a Linotype News editor, a director of trade relations for Mergenthaler Linotype Company, and a Distinguished Professor of Journalism at Virginia Commonwealth University. Arnold published several books in his field, including Functional Newspaper Design in 1956 and Ink on Paper 2 in 1971. In 1957 he was given the George Polk Award for his contribution to typographic redesign, and the Society for News Design’s lifetime achievement award in 2000. Arnold died on February 2, 2007 and was survived by Viola (his wife of sixty-five years), his three children Kathleen, Bethany, and Bruce, and five grandchildren.
Selected Works:
- The Trailblazers: The Story of the 70th Infantry Division (1989)
- Improving Your Publication (1985)
- Editing the Organizational Publication (1982)
- Arnold’s Ancient Axioms (1978)
- Ink on Paper 2 (1972)
- Modern Newspaper Design (1969)
- Feature Photos That Sell (1960)
Awards:
- 2000 Lifetime Achievement Award, Society for Newspaper Design
- 1999 Lifetime Service Award, American Press Institute
- 1980 L.H.D., Wagner College
- 1983 Gold Key Award, Columbia University
- 1981 Arts and Sciences Lecturer Award (initial)
- 1971 The Friars’ Award, St. Bonaventure University
- 1990 Professional Honors: Army Distinguished Civilian Service Medal
- 1988 American Press Institute Award for Service to Journalism
- 1984 Photo-Journalism Award, United States Navy
- 1983 Distinguished Alumnus, School of Journalism, Michigan State University
- 1983 Honorary Life Membership, Virginia Press Association
- 1979 Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal
- 1978 Journalism Pioneer Medal, the Newspaper Fund
- 1973 The John Fields Memorial Award, Central Michigan University
- 1968 The Carl Towley Memorial Award, Journalism Education Association
- 1960 U.S. Army Certificate of Appreciation
- 1958 Award of Appreciation, National Editorial Association
- 1957 George Polk Memorial Award, The Overseas Press Club
Critical Reception:
Considered the “Father of Modern Newspaper Design,” Arnold has received a plethora of awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for Newspaper Design and an Award of Appreciation from the National Editorial Association.
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Arnold launched his newspaper career with the Frankenmuth News (from Frankenmuth, Michigan) where he began his crucial changes to newspaper design. He graduated from Bay City Junior College and got a B.A. at Michigan State University.
Gildner, Gary
August 22, 1938 –
Place of Birth: West Branch, MI
Place of Principle Residence: Grangeville, ID
Biography:
Gary Gildner was born to Jean and Theodore in 1938 in West Branch, MI. He attended Michigan State University, receiving his B.A. in 1960 and his M.A. in 1961. Gildner worked as an instructor at Northern Michigan University, a Professor of English at Drake University and a McGee Professor of Writing at Davidson College. In addition he has been a Fulbright Lecturer both at the University of Warsaw and in Poland and Czechoslovakia, as well as a writer in residence at Michigan State University and a distinguished visiting writer at Seattle University. He is best known for his eight books of poetry, with The Bunker in Parsley Fields winning the Iowa Poetry Prize. Gildner has lectured at the Library of Congress, the Academy of American Poets, and the Manhattan Theatre club, as well as approximately three hundred colleges and schools in the U.S. and abroad. His awards include Pushcart Prizes in fiction and nonfiction, a Robert Frost Fellowship, and the William Carlos Williams and Theodore Roethke poetry prizes. Gildner lives with his family in Grangeville, Idaho.
Selected Works:
- Clackamas (1991)
- Jabon (1981)
- The Runner (1978)
- Bredahl (1973)
- The Bunker in the Parsley Fields (1997)
Awards:
- 1970 Robert Frost Fellowship, Bread Loaf
- 1971, 1976 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships
- 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1978 Yaddo Fellow
- 1974 MacDowell Colony Fellow
- 1976 Theodore Roethke Poetry Prize, Poetry Northwest
- 1977 William Carlos Williams Poetry Prize, New Letters
- 1979 Helen Bullis Poetry Prize, Poetry Northwest
- 1986 National Magazine Award for Fiction
- 1986 Pushcart Prize for Fiction
- 1985, 1986, 1988 Stories cited in The Best American Short Stories
- 1996 Iowa Poetry Prize for Bunker in the Parsley Fields
Critical Reception:
“His characters are aware of being alive, and when we read Gary Gildner, we are, too.”
—Richard Goodman, The New York Times
“Gary Gildner makes everything seem so right, as if telling it just the way it happened.”
—National Public Radio
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Gildner achieved his B.A. and M.A. at Michigan State University, and there worked briefly as a visiting writer in residence.
Hovey, Kate A.
February 27, 1950 –
Place of Birth: Flint, MI
Biography:
Kate A. Hovey was born to William Gifford and Eddie Hovey in Flint, MI on February 27, 1950. She first became inspired to write from her many visits to the collection of marble statues of J. Paul Getty Museum’s Greco-Roman antiquities collection in Malibu. She wrote poems dedicated to ancient Greek mythology, but remained too shy to show anyone until seventh grade, when an English teacher encouraged her in her writing. Hovey dismissed any dreams of being an author in college, instead getting a B.A. in journalism. Her first job was working as a features writer for The Sanford Herald in North Carolina, and then worked for The Fayetteville Observer as a court reporter, columnist, and features writer. Hovey married Grand O. Gullickson and moved to California with her family before taking up poetry again. She attended UCLA and studied under Myra Cohn Livingston, a noted poet and anthologist. Her poem Arachne Speaks was made into a picture book in 2001 and her children’s collection was published in 2004. Currently Kate works as a writer, designer, and metalsmith, and has made masks for university theater productions.
Selected Works:
- Arachne Speaks (2001)
- Voices of the Trojan War (2004)
- Ancient Voices (2004)
Awards:
- 2002 Marion Vannett Ridgway Honor Book Award for Arachne Speaks
- 2002 Mellen Press Poetry Prize Honorable Mention for The Book of Sarai
Critical Reception:
Arachne Speaks was praised by authors Lee Bennett Hopkins and Geraldine McCaughrean, and in addition achieved a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly. The book also was given a Marion Vannett Ridgeway Memorial Honor Book Award in 2002. Her book, Ancient Voices, was described by Pulitzer prize-winning poet as “an excellent storytelling medium – clear, pictorial, and full of action.” Voices of the Trojan War was named a Notable Book by the National Council of Teachers of English in 2005. Kirkus Reviews commented “Hovey offers a fresh and elegant take on the old stories for young readers.” Publishers Weekly stated that Hovey’s style “is cohesive, powerful, and striking.”
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Kate attended Michigan State University where she worked for the school’s student-run daily newspaper. She continued her work in journalism before returning to studying poetry at UCLA.
Pahz, James Alon
September 11, 1943 -
Place of Birth: Chattanooga, TN
Place of Principle Residence: Shepherd, MI
Biography:
James Alon Pahz was born to Abraham and Katherine Goldfeder in Chattanooga, TN. He attended Ohio Wesleyan University for three years before switching to Tennessee Temple and graduating with his B.A. in 1967. In 1972 he received his M.S. degree and in 1975 his M.P.H. degree, both from the University of Tennessee. Pahz started as a director for the Comprehensive Service for the Deaf, and subsequently served as a coordinator for the Tennessee School of the Death, and then a teaching assistant in Public health at the University of Tennessee. Pahz ended up moving to Sheperd, MI with his wife Cheryl, where he now is a professor in public health education. Pahz has co-written several books with his wife, most of which concern deaf awareness. In addition, Pahz and his wife started an adoption agency, Children’s Hope, helping families surpass the difficulties of international adoption. Pahz has three children from Honduras and has done much traveling abroad.
Selected Works:
- The Girl Who Wouldn’t Talk (1975)
- Robin Sees A Song (1977)
- Total Communication : The Meaning behind the Movement to Expand Educational Opportunitties for Deaf Children (1978)
Awards:
- 1999 Community Service-Learning Award
- Certificate of community service from Chattanooga Area Council on Alcoholism and Other Substance Abuse
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Pahz currently works as a professor in public education at Central Michigan University. He is actively involved in his community, raising awareness for handicaps and helping families adopt internationally. Many of his books concern his passion for helping others.
Upton, Lee
June 2, 1953 –
Place of Birth: St. John, MI
Place of Principle Residence: Easton, PA
Biography:
Lee Upton was born to Rose and Charles Upton in St. John, PA. As a child she enjoyed reading poems, plays, and novels – even though some of it (for example, Shakespeare) was beyond her comprehension level. She also enjoyed writing, and even created her own small newspaper called the Grand Prix. Upton went to Michigan State University where she studied journalism and worked as a free-lance reporter for a newspaper. During this time Upton also determinedly sent out her poems to a number of magazines, and eventually got accepted by the Denver Quarterly. She graduated with her B.A. in 1978 and received her M.F.A. in English at the University of Massachusetts in 1981. After receiving her Ph.D. in English at the State University of New York – Binghamton in 1986, Upton worked for a year as an assistant professor of English at Grand Valley State University and then moved to Lafayette College also as a professor of English, where she remains today. In addition to teaching, Upton publishes her work including poetry, literary criticism, and fiction. Her latest book Undid in the Land of Undon was awarded the silver medal for poetry in Foreword Magazine’s Independent Book of the Year Award. Upton has published ten books on poetry, and has received many awards including the Pushcart Prize and the Lyric Poetry Award. Upton is also a contributing editor to the Denver Quarterly. She lives in Easton, PA, is married to Eric Ziolkowski, and has two daughters Theodora and Cecilia.
Selected Works:
- Civilian Histories (2000)
- The Muse of Abandonment (1998)
- Approximate Darling (1996)
- Jean Garrigue: A Poetics of Plenitude (1991)
- The Invention of Kindness (1984)
Awards:
- National Poetry Series Award for No Mercy
- Pushcart Prize
- Georgia Contemporary Series Award for Civilian Histories and Approximate Darling
- Lyric Poetry Award
- The Writer Magazine/Emily Dickenson Award
- Foreword Magazine’s Independent Book of the Year Award
Critical Reception:
“In Upton’s fifth book of poetry, she returns to tableaus in history, both mythical and actual. She pictures Emily Dickinson with blossoms in her hands, Dido standing before the burning pyre at Carthage; even lines from Shakespeare become fodder for a rich imagining of scene. The poems move between ancient settings and modern metaphorical language, high seriousness and humor. The list of creative euphemisms continues with dizzying fecundity, each more biting than the last.”
- ForeWord reviewer Camille-Yvette Welsch
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“[Upton’s] poems about dreams transform the often mundane quality of life in an overly materialistic America into something imaginative and spiritual.”
- Andy Brumer of The New York Times Book Review
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Upton worked as a journalist during her years at Michigan State University. Later, she attributed this experience to preparing her to concentrate on her writing in all sorts of situations.