Guide to the Correspondence between Walter Clark, Jr. and John Ridland Mss 376
Finding aid prepared by Zachary Liebhaber, 2019.
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara 93106-9010
special@library.ucsb.edu
2019 September 4
Title: Correspondence between Walter Clark, Jr. and John Ridland
Identifier/Call Number: Mss 376
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.83 linear feet
(2 document boxes)
Creator:
Clark, Walter, 1931-2008
Creator:
Ridland, John
Source:
Clark, Francelia Mason, 1938-
Date (inclusive): 1953-2019
Date (bulk): 1953-2008
Abstract: Correspondence between poets Walter Clark, Jr. (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) and John Ridland (University of California,
Santa Barbara), dating from 1953-2008.
Physical Location: Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library
Language of Material: The collection is in English.
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Use Restrictions
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Research Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish
or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Research Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Department of Special Research Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of Item], Correspondence between Walter Clark, Jr. and John Ridland, Mss 376. Department of Special Research
Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Francelia Clark and John Ridland, 2019.
Processing Information
Correspondence arranged by Francelia Clark and John Ridland, 2018-2019.
Biographical Note on Walter Clark, Jr.
Walter Houston Clark, Jr. (1931-2008) was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Clark received his bachelor's degree from Swarthmore
and a PhD in philosophy and education from Harvard. Clark taught at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) from 1965 until
his retirement 28 years later. Clark published one book of poetry,
View from Mount Paugus and Other Poems (Abattoir Editions, 1976), and published many of his poems in literary journals and magazines. Clark's wife, Francelia Clark,
arranged a posthumous volume
Like a Bird Flying Home: Poetry and Letters to his Daughter from New Hampshire (Bauhan Publishing, 2013). Clark founded the New England Literature Program (NELP) in 1975, which he co-directed until 1991.
Walter Clark Jr. obituary. 2008.
The University Record Online, http://www.ur.umich.edu/0708/Jun09_08/obits.php. Accessed on 4 September, 2019.
Biographical Note on John Ridland
John Ridland (1933-2020) was born in London and grew up in California. He earned his PhD from Claremont Graduate School and
published numerous books and chapbooks, including
Ode on Violence (1969),
In the Shadowless Light (1978),
Palms: Six Ballads (1993),
A Brahms Card Ballad (2007),
Happy in an Ordinary Thing (2013), and
A. Lincolniad: An Epic Poem Honoring the Memory of President Abraham Lincoln (2014), among many others. With his wife Muriel he wrote
And Say What He Is: The Life of a Special Child (1975).
Ridland was also a translator and published translations of the Middle English poems
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and
Pearl as well as books of selected poems of the Hungarian poets Sándor Márai and Miklós Radnóti and many others here and in Hungary.
Ridland published a verse translation of the Hungarian folk epic
John the Valiant (Corvina Press, 1999). In 2010, Ridland was recognized with the Balassi Sword Award for his translations of Hungarian literature.
Ridland received a gold medal from the Arpad Society of Cleveland Ohio. He taught for over forty years at the University of
California Santa Barbara and served as a professor emeritus of the college.
Scope and Content
Correspondence between poets Walter Clark, Jr. (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) and John Ridland (University of California,
Santa Barbara).
Both attended Swarthmore College, where they met in 1953. After graduation, Clark and Ridland maintained a lifelong correspondence.
Collected and arranged into volumes by date, the letters trace events in the personal lives of Clark and Ridland, their friendship,
their development as poets and educators, and above all, their ideas about both the craft and teaching of poetry. The letters
include poems by Clark and Ridland.
Correspondence continued until 2008, the year of Clark's death. The correspondence was meticulously arranged into volumes
(by date) by Francelia Clark, Clark's widow, and John Ridland. This arrangement has been preserved. The collection also contains
a folder of correspondence between John Ridland and Francelia Clark, dating from 2011 to 2019.
Related Archival Material
John Ridland papers, UArch FacP 51. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California,
Santa Barbara.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
English teachers -- California -- Santa Barbara
English teachers -- Michigan -- Ann Arbor
Correspondence
Poems
Clark, Walter, 1931-2008 -- Correspondence
Ridland, John -- Correspondence
Clark, Francelia Mason, 1938- -- Correspondence
University of California, Santa Barbara. Department of English. Faculty
box 2, folder 3
Correspondence between Francelia Clark and John Ridland
2011-2019
