James Dickey

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This article is about the author. For the basketball coach, see James Dickey (basketball coach). For the bishop, see James Edward Dickey.
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James Dickey
Born February 2, 1923(1923-02-02)
Atlanta, Georgia
Died January 19, 1997 (aged 73)
Columbia, South Carolina
Occupation Poet, novelist, critic, lecturer and teacher
Nationality American
Writing period Contemporary literature

James Dickey (February 2, 1923 – January 19, 1997) was a popular United States poet and novelist.

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[edit] Early life

He was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to a lawyer, Eugene Dickey, and his wife, Maibelle Swift Dickey. He attended North Fulton High School in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood.

In 1942 he enrolled at Clemson University and played on the football team as a tailback. After one semester, he left school to enlist in the Army Air Corps. Dickey served in the U.S. Army night fighter squadrons during the Second World War, and in the U.S. Air force during the Korean War. Between the wars he attended Vanderbilt University, graduating with degrees in English and philosophy, as well as minoring in astronomy. He also taught at the University of Florida.[1]

[edit] Career

From 1950 to 1954, Dickey taught at Rice University (then Rice Institute) in Houston. He then worked for several years in advertising, most notably writing copy and helping direct creative work on the Coca-Cola campaign. He once said he embarked on his advertising career in order to "make some bucks."

He returned to poetry in 1960, and his first book, "Into the Stone and Other Poems", was published in 1962. Buckdancer's Choice earned him a National Book Award in 1966. Among his better known poems are "The Performance", "Cherrylog Road", "The Firebombing", "May Day Sermon", "Falling", and "For The Last Wolverine".

His popularity exploded after the film version of his novel Deliverance was released in 1972. Dickey had a cameo in the film as a sheriff.

The poet was invited to read his poem "The Strength of Fields" at President Jimmy Carter's inauguration in 1977.

[edit] Personal life

In November 1948 he married Maxine Syerson, and three years later they had their first son, Christopher; a second son, Kevin, was born in 1958. Two months after Maxine died in 1976, Dickey married Deborah Dodson. Their daughter, Bronwen, was born in 1979. Christopher is a novelist and journalist, lately providing coverage from the Middle East for Newsweek. In 1998, Christopher wrote a book about his father and Christopher's own sometimes troubled relationship with him, titled "Summer of Deliverance". Kevin is a radiologist and lives in New England. Bronwen is currently an aspiring writer in New York City.

[edit] Later years and death

James Dickey died four days after his last class at the University of South Carolina, where from 1968 he taught as Poet-in-Residence. Dickey spent his last years in and out of hospitals, afflicted first with jaundice and later fibrosis of the lungs.

[edit] Bibliography

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Persondata
NAME Dickey, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION American writer
DATE OF BIRTH February 2, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Atlanta, Georgia
DATE OF DEATH January 19, 1997
PLACE OF DEATH Columbia, South Carolina