NASHVILLE, Tenn. ñ Vanderbilt University graduate Randall Jarrell, a
poet, critic and teacher, will be honored with a historical marker at
Hume-Fogg High School. He graduated from Hume-Fogg in 1931.
The Metropolitan Nashville Historical Commission has approved the marker, which will be placed at the school early next year.
Jarrell, who died in 1965, published distinguished volumes of poetry,
criticism and a novel. He won the National Book Award for poetry in
1960 for "The Woman at the Washington Zoo" and was poet laureate at the
Library of Congress from 1956 to 1958.
"Long before I thought of becoming an English professor, I knew and
admired Randall Jarrell’s poetry," said Jay Clayton, William R. Kenan
Jr. Professor of English and chair of the Department of English at
Vanderbilt.
"I never dreamed I would one day have the privilege of working in his department at Vanderbilt."
Jarrell was born in Nashville and lived in Los Angeles as a child
before returning in time to attend Hume-Fogg. At Vanderbilt, he studied
with Robert Penn Warren, John Crowe Ransom and Allen Tate. Some of his
poems, inspired by his service in the U.S. Air Force during World War
II, chronicled the struggles and concerns of young soldiers.
In addition to his own work, Jarrell was a respected poetry critic. He
taught for many years at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Jarrell died at 50 after being struck by an automobile.
Media contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu