The centennial of Wallace Stegner’s birth (1909- 2009) is upon us. Two books and a documentary film provide valuable glimpses of his major importance as a writer and environmental activist. They also correct mistaken notions about Stegner.
Stegner sometimes suffered from misidentification. Some depicted him as a literary blood brother to Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour. Others portrayed him as a hidebound traditionalist unable to adjust to the modern West. Late in his career, a handful of misguided critics went so far as to charge Stegner with plagiarism.
These critics and naysayers miss Stegner’s major contributions as a novelist, historian, and biographer of the American West.
Share this:
June 20th, 2009 at 10:06 am
Stegner’s “Crossing to Safety” is one of my favorite novels. Beautiful.
Fans of Wendell Berry might be interested to know that Berry went to Stanford on a Wallace Stegner Fellowship and was taught by Stegner. Apparently the two developed a rather fast friendship. The similarities between them are certainly striking – that lyrical, earth-bound approach to language and relationships.