Newspapers / Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.) / Oct. 10, 1968, edition 1 / Page 20
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John Ftoster West, Novelist And Poet, ASU’s First Fulltime Resident Writer Appalachian State University has employed John Foster West, novelist and poet, as its first full-time writer-in-residence. West will teach journalism, advanced composition and a course in freshman English, as well as a section erf creative writing. Additionally, he will be sponsor of the student news paper, The Appalachian. West is the author of two hardbound books: “Up Ego,” a collection of poetry published in 1951, and a novel, “Time Was,*’ issued by Random House three years ago. He is now revising a second novel which he hopes to have ready sometime this winter. Son of a tenant farmer in Wilkes, Caldwell and Burke counties, West attended nine dif ferent schools before graduating from high school in Morganton. He attended Mars Hill Junior College and received his B.A. degree in journalism from UNC Chapel Hill in 1947. Two years later, he received his Master’s in English also at Chapel Hill where he studied creative writ ing under Phillips Russell and in 1947 was a runner-up in the Dodd, Meade Intercollegiate Fellowship, a novels competi BALL TO AID HUMPHREY George W. Ball has resigned from the U.N. ambassadorship to devote his full time to cam paign for Vice President Hum phrey, Democratic candidate for President. President John son praised Ball’s “dedicated and distinguished contributions to public service.” tion. He did further graduate work at UNC and at the State University of Iowa. Besides working, West found time to earn a football letter at Mars Hill. “I was a six foot, 149 pound guard, if you can imagine that,” he said. “I was just plain mean—a hill boy.” He was also a miler and two-mile track man in junior college. Two years in a row he won the Southeastern Junior College Conference Champion ship in both events. At UNC, he was a member of the cross country track team. Before coming to Appalach ian, West taught creative writ ing for nine years at Elon Col lege and for 10 years at Vir ginia’s Old Dominion College, where he established a journa lism program. ‘‘I write novels to please my self and a public. I write poetry only to please myself. If anyone else likes it, so much the better. JOHN FOSTER WEST I write poetry to satisfy an inner need/’ said West. His poetry has appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Lyric and the Caro lina Quarterly, a UNC literary magazine of which he was co founder in 1948. During and after his college years, West had published sev eral paperback adventure stories under pen names. He also had written adventure and science fiction short stories for several magazines. However, making a hit in the hardback field came slowly. Before ac ceptance of “Time Was”, West had submitted seven novels each of which had been rejected for publication. The setting of his first novel is Wilkes County, near the town of Ferguson, and the story is “about 80 per cent true,” West said, “based on may mother’s and father’s lives.” He plans a sequal covering the first 10 years of his own life. The bulk of the novel is a flashback telling of the mar riage of 17-year-old Alvira Matlock to Will Ward, a rough hewn widower with several chil dren older than Alvira. The rest of the novel concerns John Ward, their son, who returns to the hills in an attempt to understand his now-dead father. The setting for West’s cur rent novel (“In Solemn Form”) is in Lenoir, with the cities of Boone and Blowing Rock playing a part in the work (Actual placenames will be disguised.), in which two young lawyers break the will of an old man who has left his estate to a cousin. As in his first book, West is using regional dialect but to a lesser extent. Disusssing south ern regional writers and the use of dialect forms, West com mented, “I think that they are good and have a definite place, but I also think the public is getting to the point they aren’t interested in that sort of thing anymore. “I think a book has to reflect the region in which it occurs, but it must contain enough of a universal appeal so that read ers in other areas can find it worthwhile. I think that dialect is fine, but you have to be care ful not to use too much. You have to capture the rhythm and use an occasional dialectical phrase.” Also a folklore enthusiast, the university’s resident writer has written for North Carolina Folklore magazine. Other non fiction articles have appeared under his name in national mag azines, the latest being for The Writer about the tribula tion of publishing a first novel. Currently vice chairman of the North Carolina writer’s Conference, John Foster West will be its chairman next year. The organization comprises professional writers and book editors and he hopes to have the yearly meeting in Boone. West says “I write about this region and I want to stay around the people I’m interested in,’ At Appalachian, he plans to start a literary magazine sometime within the year. A widower, West lives on Faculty Street, Boone, with two of his three children, daughter Leah, 12, and his son, Kimbo, age 10. An older daughter, Betsy, is a social worker for the city of Norfolk, Va. NORTH CAROLINA’S CONGRESSMEN Charles R. Jonas and James T. Broyhill are presented “Watchdog of the Treasury” awards by John C. Mason, President of the National Associated Businessmen, Inc. The citation in the award is for an “out standing economy voting record.'’ The National Associated Businessmen is a non-partisan organization whose goals include fiscal responsibility in government and the elimination of the Federal government from competition with private enterprise. Crafts For Christmas Class Being Sponsored Through the co-operation of the Appalachian State Univer sity Industrial Arts Depart ment, the W. H. Plemmons Stu dent Center is sponsoring a free non-credit class in Crafts For Christmas. Participation will be limited to ASU staff, faculty or student and their husbands or wives. Enrollment will be limited to not less than 10 nor more than 16 per class. The class will meet on Mon day nights from 6:30-9:30 be ginning Oct. 14 and will cover seven class meetings. Place of the meeting will be Room 210 of the Industrial Arts Building, and participants will purchase materials through the Industrial Arts Department. Anyone interested in taking this class should contact the director’s office, W.H. Plem New Marquis. The most dramatically styled car since the Continental Mark III. You won’t see a medium-priced car like this in any other showroom. Marquis has a dramatic elegance, a majestic beauty that only the creators of the Continental Mark III could make. With this styling and the surprising price, you have no excuse to settle for a dull little car. New Marauder X-100. Now you don’t have to sacrifice comfort if you want a sporty road car. A full-size road car with more thrills per inch than anything that has ever been in our showroom. You get a choice of bench, Twin-Comfort, or bucket seats,- styled aluminum wheels, a horn that blows by squeezing the steering wheel rim, a 429-cu. in., 4-barrel V-8 ana rakish fender skirts—all standard. _ Ok New American Cougar with a continental accent. Cougar owners will tell you how much fun they are to drive. That hasn't changed. But the looks have. Compare it to the foreign sports cars. Anything the Europeans can do we can do better. Cougar is now available as a convertible. And Cougar continues to be the best-equipped luxury sports car in its class. A big 351-cubic inch V-8 is standard. So ore concealed headlamps, sequential rear turn signals and bucket seats. LINCOLN MERCURY \bur Mercury dealer leads the way with the most exciting new cars in Iowa Winkler Motor Company, Incorporated ■ ***:*»*■ -v' ri -• 1 Depot A Howard Sts. Dealer License No. 1170 Boone, N. C. mons student Center (.Room 214, Ext. 324) to sign up for the class. Deadline for sign-up is 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10, in order to be enrolled. The Student Center plans to offer classes in art, dancing, home mechanics, music and bridge throughout the year. De finite plans will be made soon. It's a qood <Uy hw buyinq A ho^ ... a farm ... or good building lots FOR ALL YOUR REAL ESTATE NEEDS, CALL ASSOCIATED REAL ESTATE 102 East King Street - Phone 264-2415 WILBUR KUTZ, Realtor JACK SIMPSON, Salesman Let Us Show You Some of Our Desirable Listings FOR RENT A real nice 3-bedroom house on Grand Blvd. Has living room, dining and kitchen combi* nation and full bath. $100 a month. Basement apartment on Queen Street, with in walking distance to downtown stores. $75 a month. We have a real bargain at 831 Faculty St. Living room, dining room, kitchen and 3 bedrooms, renting for $100 a month. FOR SALE A nice lot on King Street suitabe for busi ness or apartment buildings. We have several lots just outside the city limits. Come in and ask. "Isn’t it fun ^ romp on a cozy, warm floor?” •4a giue jowr family a healthier, happier, warmer home with a beautiful, new *Wi? OIL HOME HEATER SIEGLER has the big, built-in Blower System and ex clusive Inner Heat Tubes that give you the comfort miracle of SUPER FLOOR HEAT. Come in and ask for a demonstration and see how this new Siegler will pay for itself with i&f$£sUkthe fuel it saves. -LIMITED OFFER — FREE OIL TANK AND STAND IF YOU PURCHASE YOUR SIEGLER OIL HEATER BY OCTOBER 15th. Roten's Furniture Store W. King St. - 264-3696
Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.)
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Oct. 10, 1968, edition 1
20
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