Charles David Wright - (1931-1978)
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Advanced English IIIEmmett High School, Emmett, Idaho
"'If I'd been born during the Renaissance, I would have been a minstrel'" (Guide 8).
I. Personal and Professional Biography
Charles David Wright, a poet who lived and taught in Idaho, made this statement once about bringing authors and the importance of poetry to the Boise, Idaho, area. Wright did, indeed, succeed in drawing many into the enchanting web of writing. In the short time that he was alive, he wrote poems and accomplished much that has added to the variety and spice of the literary scene in Idaho and in the other places that he lived.
Charles David Wright, also known as "Chuck" (Maguire 316), came into the world June 2, 1931, in Marion, Illinois (Guide 2). His father, David Wright, emigrated from Scotland and mined coal, worked for the WPA, and was, also, a baker when he lived in Marion (Guide 2, Locher). His mother, Minnie Corgan Wright (Locher), was employed as a sort of maid by a high school home economics teacher (Guide 2). As Wright grew up, he was influenced by his mother's style and by reading classics given to him by his Baptist preacher (Guide 2). Although he failed high school English, he eventually earned his Ph.D. in English (Guide 2,4). He was wed to a teacher named Ruth Petty in Alaska on June 23, 1955 (Guide 3, Locher). They later moved to Iowa, where their two children were born- David in 1958 and Vivian in 1960 (Guide 4). After Wright got a teaching job at Boise State College in 1972, he and his family moved to Boise, Idaho (Guide 7). In 1977, he was diagnosed with cancer and died in his home July 13, 1978 (Guide 8-9).
Wright lived in several different places while studying and working. He attended Wayne State University from 1949-1953. While he was there, he was influenced by folk music, the Student League for Industrial Democracy, and Jewish culture. His concern for workers' rights and race relations is shown in his writings there. Two of his teachers and role models were Jim McCormick and Vincent Wall who produced a play written by Wright that had won first prize in a competition. During the summers, Wright worked in Ford plants and in construction. His dedication at Wayne State paid off when he earned an English Degree from there in 1953 (Guide 2-3). He received his Masters Degree in English in 1954 from the University of Wisconsin, and, also, at that time, became more involved in politics (Guide 3).
Starting in 1955, Wright served for two years in the U.S. Army, stationed in Alaska, driving over snow vehicles. He remembered always making sure that he had something to eat, read, and smoke on maneuvers. While living in Alaska, he met and married his wife. He was also a newspaper editor and taught college English there (Guide 3-4).
Following his army duty, he returned to school, this time in Germany. He studied German History and Literature at the Tubingen University in 1957 (Guide 4). His next residence was in Iowa, where his children were born. He earned his Ph.D. in English from the University of Iowa in 1962. He wrote quatrains and was an advocate for racial equity in student housing while he was there. He had a sign above his desk that read "'Graduate school is not life'" (Guide 4).
He got a job as an English teacher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He taught there for ten years, from 1962-1972, becoming an Associate Professor. He and his wife were involved in the civil rights movement during that time. He was also involved in Cub Scouts and the PTA, and was a Democratic precinct chairman, as well as the state coordinator for the North Carolina Poetry Circuit. He tried for a place on the Carrboro, North Carolina board of aldermen in 1969, but was not elected. Because of his undergraduate teaching skills, he received an award from the University's student government. In 1968, he organized the Southeastern Conference of Little Magazines. He started writing poetry again and reading it at Chapel Hill, and got the chance to read poetry at the Struga Poetry Festival in Yugoslavia in 1970 (Guide 4-6).
Wright again had the opportunity to study in Germany in 1970 and 1971. This time, it was through a post-doctoral cross-disciplinary fellowship through the Society for Religion in Higher Education. He studied 19th Century German religious criticism and the English response (Guide 6). Because of this rare opportunity, he declined taking a teaching position at the University of the Pacific's Raymond College in 1969 (Guide 7). While studying in Europe, he also taught poetry at the Pythagorean Institute of Art on the island of Samos, Greece during the summers of 1969-1972 (Guide 6).
Wright had applied to many undergraduate schools for teaching jobs and was offered a job on the English Faculty of Boise State College in 1972. He accepted and then he and his family were off to beautiful Boise, Idaho, the last place that he lived. They bought a 1918 house, remodeled it, and then happily created a mini-farm, complete with a garden, goats, chickens, rabbits, and many other animals. Wright taught Poetry, Creative Writing, and Victorian Literature at the college. He helped plan the school's Humanities Program and helped organize the Boise Poetry Series and the Poetry-in-the-Schools Program in Boise. In addition, he helped organize and was the first chairman (1973-1975) of the Association for the Humanities in Idaho. The year 1976 brought an award from the National Endowment for the Arts called a "Creative Writing Fellowship." He was honored to read poetry for two years at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. Because of his firm belief that writing and poetry are meant to be shared, he brought writers Robert Bly, Alan Dugan, Laurence Ferlinghetti, Judith Guest, Carolyn Kizer, Marge Piercy, and Gary Snyder to Boise. Six days after his death in 1978, he and his writing were honored at a poetry reading at the Boise Gallery of Art (Guide 7-9). Wright's life in Boise contributed much to the way literature is accepted in Idaho. Through his involvement in the Humanities and his teaching, he touched many lives.
Throughout his life, Wright wrote many poems and articles and published two books of poetry, Early Rising, published by the U.N.C. Press in 1968, and Clearing Away, published in 1980 by Confluence Press of Lewiston, ID (Guide 8-9). One of his first poems to be published was "Dimensions," featured in a 1965 edition of Harper's. In 1967 and 1968, some of his articles on Matthew Arnold were published in Written Poetry and Studies on Philology. Also, in 1968, an article on James Joyce was published in an issue of the James Joyce Quarterly (Guide 6). Several of Wright's articles and reviews were published in Harper's, Kenyon Review, Saturday Review, Atlantic Monthly, and New American Review (Locher). The only poem that he wrote about death, "A Killing Frost," was written after he was diagnosed with cancer (Guide 8). Wright's writings and poetry have been published in a variety of literary works and have been enjoyed by many readers over the years.
Charles David Wright was an honest, hardworking man who did a lot for the world through his writing, his service, and his achievements. He led an honorable life full of completed goals and aspirations. He learned much and taught much, and the ripples of his life are still felt today, especially in the Boise area.
II. Works Cited
Charles David Wright: A Guide to His Papers and Commentary on His Poems.
Boise, ID: Boise State U, 1991.
Locher, Frances C., ed. "Charles David Wright." Contemporary Authors. Vol. 104.
Detroit: Gale, 1982.
Maguire, James H., ed. "Recent Poets." The Literature of Idaho: An Anthology.
Boise: Hemingway Western Studies, 1986. 316.
III. Additional Resources
Wright, Charles David. Clearing Away.
Lewiston, ID: Confluence, 1980.
Early Rising. Chapel Hill, NC: U of North Carolina Press, 1968.
"October Ending." The Literature of Idaho: An Anthology. Ed. James H. Maguire. Boise: Hemingway Western Studies, 1986. 317.
"Shaving." Idaho's Poetry: A Centennial Anthology. Ed. Ronald E. McFarland and William Studebaker. Moscow: U of Idaho P, 1988. 131.
"The Foolhen (or Spruce Grouse)." Idaho's Poetry: A Centennial Anthology. Ed. Ronald E. McFarland and William Studebaker. Moscow: U of Idaho P, 1988. 130.
"There Comes a Wind." The Literature of Idaho: An Anthology. Ed. James H. Maguire. Boise: Hemingway Western Studies, 1986. 317.
This essay was submitted by a student of Joanne Davis, an English teacher at Emmett High School in Idaho.