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I. Biography
Catherine
Webster was born in 1944 in California's Bay Area as Catherine Hawthorne, but later chose to take her mother's maiden name after her second divorce. That maiden name, Webster, was one with rich tradition in the area of
Linden, California and Catherine and her family moved there. Three generations of the Webster family owned thousands of miles of land in both the San Joaquin and Calaveras counties and also in Oregon, mostly used for cattle
grazing. Growing up on the land with her mother, Alberta Lewallen, and her brother, Catherine grew to love and appreciate the land. Surrounded by relatives, Webster grew up with a strong sense of family. At one
time, Catherine's mother and her aunts, Marjorie Williams and Dorothy Lundblad, all ran farms in the same area of Linden.
Webster grew up in the Linden area and attended elementary school in the Linden area and
then went on to graduate from Linden High School. Upon completion of high school, Webster then entered the University of Pacific, majoring in literature. She dropped out for a while, but later returned and completed her
undergraduate studies. She initially entered UOP graduate school, but then decided to pursue her Master's degree in poetry from Sacramento State University. Years later, she attained a Master's degree in Writing from
the University of Vermont.
After graduation from Sacramento State, Webster moved back to Linden to live with her mom, help out with the farm, and most importantly for lovers of good poetry, to write. She began
formally writing at the age of thirty-six. She had always been fond of writing, but it wasn't until this time that she began to write with confidence. Many of her poems concerned the land around her and theories about land,
such as Darwinism. She also began to edit, along with her poetry writing and ranching.
Webster adopted a very original style, due in part to the fact that she suffers from dyslexia, however she uses this as an
advantage in her writing to offer a unique style. According to Jane Miller, "Catherine Webster's poems have a structure, syntax, and diction quite entirely her own. Her poetic line is primitive post modern...and trails
off has ever-forward momentum or, to use her phrase, 'loose blooming.'" Whitman was her hero, she felt that Whitman was the land, and she tried to emulate the love of the land in her writing. As she said, "I write
because I have to."
As a poet, she began to get noticed and has had poems published in several publications. Among these was a collection of poems by writers of the same general area in California, titled
Highway 99: A Literary Journey through California's Great Central Valley. Webster's poem, "Child Off Highway 99", was included by editor Stan Yogi, who was among many in his praise of her work. In 1997, the
University of Iowa Press published The Thicket Daybreak, a book containing 28 of her poems. Before publication, she submitted this work and it was chosen out of 600 entries and was awarded the 1997 Colorado Prize for
Poetry. She has also had her work published in the Denver Quarterly. She also published a book of her own poems called The Concepts of Bodily Objects.
Webster also found success in the field of
editing, as she compiled poems of people from across the nation for Handspan of Red Earth: An Anthology of American Farm Poems in 1991. Although it was her first effort at editing, it contained some nationally renowned
poets and experienced success. She compiled a similar work for publication in 1998 titled Over the Soil: An Anthology of World Farm Poems.
Besides writing and editing,
Webster continues to study, to learn, and also has taught at UOP. According to Paula Sheil, she is working on an interdisciplinary doctorate in film, English, and philosophy. Always one to be concerned about the land and the
environment and the preservation and cultivation of them, Webster is wholly involved in this effort. She has served as the president of the Land Utilization Trust of San Joaquin County for several years and also is a member
of a number of agricultural organizations. She has been a prominent figure in the community, attempting to stop the urbanization of beautiful agricultural land and other offenses towards the land. Agriculture is the
lifeline of California's Central Valley, and it is because of people like Catherine Webster that we are able to protect it and keep it that way. Webster summed up her strong feelings about the land and agriculture by saying,
"If we lose the ability to feed ourselves, we've lost our political power."
On the personal front, Catherine Webster has two children, a boy and a girl, who both reside in Linden along with her mother. Webster also has
one granddaughter, Claire Meredith Campbell, who she hopes will carry on her love for the land. Webster is confident that her granddaughter will make achievements in agriculture, and will be awarded the Nobel pride in that
field. She has stated that, "My kids are my greatest accomplishment." She is currently attending film school in Iowa, where she wishes to pursue a career in film production. When she is not writing, editing,
studying, parenting, ranching, or working for the preservation of the land, she enjoys the tranquility of the farmland.
Catherine Webster is a very talented person in a number of areas, and the Valley is lucky and should be
proud to be called her neighbor.
II. Works Cited
Cook, Bill. "Farmland Advocates Blast Study on Growth." Stockton Record. Stockton, CA (1992): A1.
Cook, Bill.
"Stockton Fans Anticipating Writer's Visit." Stockton Record. Stockton, CA (1992): C6.
Sheil, Paula. "Bard of San Joaquin." Stockton Record. Stockton, CA (1997): D1.
Marconi,
Catherine, ed. Handspan of Red Earth: An Anthology of American Farm Poems. Iowa City: University of Iowa City Press, 1991.
Webster, Catherine. The Thicket Daybreak: Poems. Iowa City: University of Iowa
City Press, 1997.
Webster, Catherine. Personal interview. 19 Feb 1999.
III. Literary Works
The Concept of Bodily Objects (1997)
The Thicket Daybreak: Poems (1997)
Over This Soil: An Anthology of World Farm Poems (1998)
Webster's poems have been published in:
Highway 99: A Literary Journey Through California's Great Central Valley
Handspan of Red Earth: An Anthology of American Farm Poems (1991)
IV. Contact:
Cweb552@aol.com This essay was submitted
by students of Matthew Weeks, a teacher at St. Mary's High School in Stockton, California |
