Memorial at library lauds poet

NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER --  Jo McDougall, left, and Crescent Dragonwagon visit Sunday April 26, 2015 before a memorial service at the Fayetteville Public Library for Miller Williams who passed away on Jan. 1 this year. Williams was a poet and professor at the University of Arkansas. 
<strong><em>Correction: A previous version of this cutline incorrectly identified Jo McDougall. The error has been corrected. </strong></em>
NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER -- Jo McDougall, left, and Crescent Dragonwagon visit Sunday April 26, 2015 before a memorial service at the Fayetteville Public Library for Miller Williams who passed away on Jan. 1 this year. Williams was a poet and professor at the University of Arkansas. Correction: A previous version of this cutline incorrectly identified Jo McDougall. The error has been corrected.

Correction: Jo McDougall attended the Miller Williams memorial service Sunday at the Fayetteville Public Library. Her last name was incorrect in a photo caption in this story.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Through his poetry and influence on others, Miller Williams' legacy will be a lasting one, said Billy Collins, a former poet laureate of the United States, at a public memorial for Williams held Sunday at the Fayetteville Public Library.

"I think there just is no end to how he will live on, not just in our personal memories, but in the many poets he influenced and advanced and, of course, his own well-made, gracious and funny poems," Collins said.

Williams wrote over 30 books, co-founded the University of Arkansas press -- which published an early book of Collins' that boosted the poet's career -- and was a former director of the creative writing program at UA. He died Jan. 1 in Fayetteville at age 84 from complications of Alzheimer's disease.

An accomplished poet who won several honors throughout his writing career, Williams in 1997 wrote "Of History and Hope" for the second presidential inauguration of Bill Clinton, reading it at the event. He was the father of three children, including acclaimed singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams.

About 150 family, friends and well-wishers gathered for the service, which began with an introduction by the Rev. Lowell Grisham, rector at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Fayetteville.

Grisham drew laughter from the crowd with a description of people who enjoyed Williams' work.

"His poetry and writing was and still is enjoyed by countless numbers of writers, artists, musicians, professors, students, contractors, taxi drivers and squirrel hunters," Grisham said.

Born in Hoxie, Williams was one of 11 children, only six of whom reached adulthood, Grisham said before introducing a video from 1986 showing Williams reading his poetry.

In the video, Williams, in a blue suit and matching tie, offered a folksy introduction.

"Pretty much by the time you're 6 years old, it's already decided I think whether you're going to go to poetry readings when you're 40 or not. And I'm very, very grateful that whoever your parents were, they had the right sounds in the house that have you here tonight," Williams said.

As a reader, Williams delivered his work with energy and emotion. The video showed Williams reading several poems, showcasing his characteristic willingness to dive deeply into complicated feelings.

He soulfully reflected on shared humanity despite cultural and political divides in a poem evoking World War II titled "Wiedersehen." The narrator recounts a brief encounter as a boy with a German prisoner of war passing through town, who returns an errantly thrown baseball.

In another poem, Miller grappled with the passage of time and its effect on family and identity. The narrator in "Ruby Tells All" is a woman reflecting on her life and changes in it: "We lose everything that's grand and foolish; it all becomes something else."

Toward the back of the crowd, one woman grinned while the video played. A younger man had his mouth slightly open as he looked on, mesmerized. A much older man dabbed at his eyes when the video finished playing.

Collins spoke to the crowd next, joking about Williams' wealth of well-known friends.

"I did not sleep in the bed with Jimmy Carter and Charles Bukowski as noted by The New York Times" in the publication's obituary for Williams, Collins said. Both the former president and writer were said by The Times to have been guests in Williams' home.

"I know him, basically, as the guy who spotted me," Collins said, praising Williams for pointing out the best work in an initial submission from Collins and pushing him to write other poems of that same quality.

Collins also announced that Williams' literary papers will be housed at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

After Collins spoke, the service ended with the crowd standing and singing "Amazing Grace," described as one of Williams' favorite songs.

Williams is survived by his wife, Jordan, and three children, Lucinda, Robert and Karyn.

Metro on 04/27/2015

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