Southwest: Region Five

Pitcher, Emma Bickham

September 20, 1915 -

Place of Birth:  Chicago, IL

Place of Principle Residence:  Kalamazoo, MI

Biography:
Emma Bickham Pitcher was born to Edith and Martin Bickham in Chicago, IL.  Despite her later career as a naturalist and writer, Pitcher was not much interested in nature as a child.  She graduated with a BA from the University of Chicago in 1937, and married, moving with her husband to Buffalo.  Five years later they returned and attended the University of Chicago, and had four children: Hugh, Elizabeth, Charles, and Catherine.  During the summer the family traveled to the Indiana Dunes, and it was during this time that Pitcher’s love for nature was born.  She has published three books, all geared towards the power of observing the outdoors.  In addition, she has written poetry and essays, most of which deal with her hobby as a naturalist.  Pitcher served as the Dean of Students for the Graduate School of Business, retiring in 1980.  She currently lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan and is an active volunteer at the Kalamazoo Nature Center.

Selected Works:

     
• Of Woods and Other Things (1996)
     
• Up and Down the Dunes (1987)
     
• Ramblings (2001)

Awards

     
• 1990 Public Media Award, Michigan Audubon Society
 
• Several National Park Volunteer Commendations
 
• “Sagamore of the Wabash” Award from the Governor of Indiana -the highest honor possible for service to the state

Critical Reception:
Pitcher has received several honors for her work, including the Public Media Award from the Michigan Audubon Society.

Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
An adamant enthusiast of nature, Pitcher volunteers at The Kalamazoo Nature Center and for thirteen years has written essays on nature for the Kalamazoo Gazette.

 

 

Plano, Jack C.

November 25, 1921 - November 21, 2002

Place of Birth:  Merrill, WI

Place of Principle Residence:  Kalamazoo, MI

Biography:
Jack C. Plano was born to Minna and Victor Plano in Merrill, WI.  He received business training at Merrill Community College in 1940, and joined the US Army in the Corps of Engineers.  Plano left the army in 1945 and earned his BA at Ripon College in 1949.  In 1950 and 1954 he earned his MA and PhD consecutively in international relations.  From 1953 to 1987 he served as a professor in the Political Science department at Western Michigan University, teaching courses in international relations, international organization, and American foreign policy on both undergraduate and graduate levels.  In 1962 he co-authored a new type of encyclopedia-dictionary, The American Political Dictionary that has been widely adopted as a supplemental text for basic courses in American government.  By the time of Plano’s death, the book had gone through eleven editions.  Due to the success of his first dictionary, Plano co-authored a series of political dictionaries with his colleagues and in 1980 was chosen as the series editor for ABC-Clio Dictionaries in Political Science.  Plano covered topics relating to international relations, political science, political analysis, Latin America, and Soviet and East European governments and politics.  In 1971, Plano was invited to the University of Sussex to lecture and do research, and in addition he presented papers on sea pollution and seabed problems for the Institute for the Study of International Organization.  He has published a number of monographs, and in 1974 founded the New Issues Press of Western Michigan University and served as its press-managing editor until his retirement.  Plano received several awards, including the first ever recipient of the Outstanding Emeritus Scholar Award at Western Michigan University.  During his retirement ,Plano published a series of memoirs relating to his life experience.  He died in 2007 and was survived by his wife, Ellen, and his children Jay, Gregory, and Vicki.

Selected Works:

     
• American Political Dictionary (1962)
     
• Latin America Political Dictionary (1980)
     
• United Nations (1988)

Awards:

       
• 1997   Outstanding emeritus Scholar Award-Western Michigan University
       
• 1981   Phi Beta Kappa - Ripon College
       
• 1981   Hubert Herring Award for Best Reference Book on Latin America
       
• 1997   Outstanding Emeritus Scholar Award at Western Michigan University

Critical Reception:
Plano’s first book, The American Political Dictionary, is still used in classrooms across the U.S. as a basic supplemental text in American Government.  He has received several awards for his work, including the Hubert Herring Award for Best Reference Book on Latin America.

Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Plano taught at Western Michigan University for thirty-five years where he taught and pursued his research on political science.  He co-authored several dictionaries/encyclopedias on a variety of topics with his colleagues.  During his retirement he published several memoirs on his experience as an educator.

 

 

Pokagon, Simon

1830 - 1899

Place of Birth: Indian village on St. Joseph River, near or on Indiana border, Berrien
County, MI

Biography:
Simon Pokagon was born to Elizabeth and Leopold (famous Potowatomi chief) Pokagon in Berrien County, MI.  He was educated at Notre Dame University and Oberlin College, and throughout his life became known as the best educated full-blooded Indian in North America.  He served as the chief of the Potowatomi tribe and spent much of his life convincing his fellow Indians to educate themselves and integrate into other cultures, as well as campaigning for Indian rights and trying to get payment for the land his father sold to the US government.  Pokagon met with President Lincoln twice and smoked a pipe-of-peace with President Grant, both with the purpose of receiving payment for his tribe.  When he attended the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893, Pokagon was outraged to discover that no American Indian had been asked to serve in any official position at the World’s Fair when dignitaries came from all over the world to attend.  He wrote a defense entitled The Red Man’s Greeting, that was originally published on birch park and sold by Indians at the exposition before being picked up by the Chicago Press, reviewed by the National Press, and quoted in journals in England in Europe.  This defense brought world fame to Pokagon, and paved the way for more of his work, including defense and persuasive pieces.  The Chicago mayor asked Pokagon to be the keynote speaker for Chicago Day at the Exposition, where thousands arrived to hear Pokagon speak.  He wrote ten articles for The Forum, Harper’s, The Chautauguan, Review of Reviews, and The Arena on topics including the future of the Indian, problems of race, Indian legends, and the Fort Dearborn Massacre.  In addition to his articles, Pokagon wrote one book, Queen of the Woods that reflected on his early courtship with his wife, Londinaw, using nature to express ideas and abstract thought.  Pokagon died in 1899.

Selected Works:

     
• The Red Man’s Greeting (1893)
     
• The chi-kog-ong of the red man (1897)
     
• Algonquin Legends of South Haven (1900)

Critical Review:

“He was a man of great moral strength. His appetites and passions were always under control of an awakened conscience. There was also something of the woman’s tenderness and sweetness in a nature that could be stern when wrongs were to be denounced. He was a poet, orator and philosopher. In his creations there not infrequently flashed forth much of the fire and impassioned the great chieftains of the Algonquins, and which not infrequently suggest the old prophets of Israel when they fearlessly denounced wrong and justice. With his death there passed from view one of the noblest children of the red race – a man whose life, thought and deeds proved how closely akin are the noble natures of all races, ages, and times.”
  - Literary Digest

Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Pokagon’s book, Queen of the Woods, included much imagery on nature, as well as his love for the forest woodlands of Michigan.  As chief of his people, Pokagon tirelessly campaigned for their rights, especially in receiving payment for their land.

Reardon, Lisa

January 22, 1962—

Place of Birth: Milan, MI

Place of Principal Residence: Southwestern Michigan

Biography
Lisa Anne Hicks (later changed to Reardon) was born and raised in Milan, MI on January 22, 1962.  After graduating from high school, Reardon supported herself with a variety of jobs, including working as a pharmacist’s cashier and as a motel night clerk, in addition to attending college.  After earning her BA in English and Theatre from the University of Michigan in 1989, Reardon went to study playwriting at the Yale School of Drama.  During this time, The Purple Rose Theater in Chelsea, MI picked one of Reardon’s plays, Blush at Nothing, to be their first production.  In 1992 Reardon graduated with her MA in Playwriting and moved to New York City, there changing her name to Reardon.  For several years she wrote plays for local theatres, but quit because of the difficulties working with theatrical companies.  Her first break into novel writing came with the release of her first book, Billy Dead in 1997.  With this success, Reardon was able to quit her job as a word processor for a Manhattan bank and focus on her writing full-time.  She continued to publish books while teaching novel writing and short fiction for New York’s Gotham Writer’s Workshop and running a writing workshop for teens in the Adolescent Psychiatric Division of St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital.  Reardon has spent some time in Chicago, working with the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center to form a creative writing workshop, but now resides in Michigan.  She is simultaneously employed at Boysville, a security/treatment center for teens, and as a writer.

Selected Works
Plays:

• The Sweet Trade
• Gloria
• Blush at Nothing
• Cost of Living
• Wendy and Danny
• Dove

Novels:

• The Mercy Killers
• Blameless
• Billy Dead

Awards

• First Place, La Plume des Femmes Playwriting Competition, Jacksonville FL, 1990
• 1992 Van Lier Playwriting Fellowship, Manhattan Theatre Club
• 1994 Berrilla Kerr Grant for Playwrights
• Billy Dead one of “Twenty Notable First Novels of 1998” by Booklist
• Blameless named a finalist for the Great Lakes Booksellers Association Award
• 2005 Community Arts Assistance Program Grant, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs

Critical Reception

Reardon is known for writing horror-type plots that spark controversy. Through her mastery of writing, she is able to deliver tragic and shocking storylines. She creates certain emotions in the reader by managing the plot so precisely. She pays excellent attention to character development.

For Billy Dead:

        As much dysfunctional family portrait as mystery, this is an honest, thought-provoking slice
        of a not-yet-wasted young life. This book should find a home in public libraries, large and small.
            - Library Journal

        Reardon falters in straining for a redemptive conclusion, but that doesn’t diminish her overall accomplishment: this is a compelling work,     
        reminiscent of both Dorothy Allison and Caroline Chute, that evokes empathy for those who lead bleak, savage lives and even finds a measure of
        dignity and love in people raised in a world where all the rules and taboos are broken on a daily basis.
            - Publishers Weekly

        “...this is an extremely powerful novel, but whether you want to read it depends on your stomach for human—or, better said, subhuman—ugliness.
            - The New York Times Book Review

        “Reardon’s tour of upstate Michigan may not be scenic, but it’s not soon forgotten.”
            - The Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review

        “Reardon writes in a masterful, an artfully quiet, and a most unfabulous way, which has the effect of making this tale seem acceptable. If this
          one doesn’t cause a buzz, then our collective consciousness is more damaged than we thought.
            - Booklist

Relevance of Place to Author’s Work

Lisa’s third novel, The Mercy Killers, is set in Ypsilanti, Michigan in 1969. She returned to Michigan recently, as she grew up there.

Ridl, Jack R.

1944—

Place of Birth: Sewickley, PA

Place of Principal Residence:  Holland, MI

Biography
Father, professor, and poet, Jack R. Ridl was born in Sewickley, Pennsylvania on April 10, 1944. Jack grew up in Pennsylvania where his father coached college basketball for the University of Pittsburgh. When his father went on tour with the team, Jack would experience first-hand life in the circus from his mother’s side of the family. 
Jack earned his Bachelor’s degree from Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. After graduation, he served as assistant dean of admissions at the University of Pittsburgh from 1968-1971. Since 1971, Jack has taught at Hope College in Holland, Michigan where he has become a respected professor. 
Being separated from his daughter, Meredith, during her childhood because of divorce, Jack wrote weekly longhand letters to her to keep their relationship current. Today, Jack and Meredith, an artist and teacher, still write weekly longhand letters to each other even though they live near one another. Jack lives with his wife Julie, also a writer, along Lake Michigan in Holland. 
When Jack met poet Paul Zimmer he got his start as a poet. Jack, who had some leverage at the University of Pittsburgh, would get Zimmer into the locker room to meet basketball players in exchange for help in writing poetry. Poet William Stafford also influenced Jack’s early work. 
Jack is the author of 3 full-length collections of poetry as well as 3 chapbooks. Through poetry, Jack reflects the important influences in his life. His chapbook Outside the Center Ring explores the place of the circus in his life. He has worked very hard in his efforts as founder of the Visiting Writers Series at Hope College in 1985. Today Jack continues to not only educate, but also inspire through his work as a professor.

Selected Works

• The Same Ghost (1985)
• After School (1988)
• Between (1989)
• Against Elegies (2001)
• Outside the Center Ring (2006)
• Broken Symmetry (2006)

Awards

• Nominated three times for the Pushcart Prize
• 1996 Carnegie Foundation “Michigan Professor of the Year”
• 2001 Chapbook Award from the Center for Book Arts in New City for Against Elegies
• 2002 Say-the-Word Poetry Award from the Ellipse Art Center in Arlington, Virginia
• 2003 Hope College student body favorite professor
• 2007 co-winner of the Society of Midland Author Award for poetry

Critical Reception

Conrad Hilberry has acknowledged Ridl’s group of basketball poems as, “unmatched, anywhere in American Poetry.” In 2001 former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins selected his collection, Against Elegies for the Chapbook Award, saying, “These poems feel their way forward and are attentive enough to the reader to make us feel included–happy accomplices to his search.”

Relevance of Place to Author’s Work
For Jack, writing poetry offers a means to explore topics in a new way. His incorporation of basketball and the circus, which influenced him greatly during his childhood, are ready inspirations for his poetry.

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