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C. J. Stevens

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Clysle Julius (C.J.) Stevens (8 December 1927 - 9 December 2021[5]) was a writer.[2][1] He published over 30 books (including poetry, short stories, non-fiction, and biography), and was published in hundreds of magazines. The United States Library of Congress contains a special collection of his works.[3]

Clysle Julius (C.J.) Stevens
Born(1927-12-08)December 8, 1927[1]
Smithfield, Maine, U.S.[1]
DiedDecember 9, 2021(2021-12-09) (aged 94)
Surfside Beach, South Carolina
Pen nameJohn Stevens Wade[2]
OccupationWriter
EducationB.S (1953)
Alma materTeachers College of Connecticut (now Central Connecticut State University)
Period20th and 21st centuries
GenrePoetry, short stories, non-fiction, and biography
Notable works
SpouseS.R. (née Taschlisky) Stevens[3][4]
Website
johnwade.com
Literature portal

In 1998, the Portland Press Herald described him as "versatile and charismatic".[6] Stevens also translated others' works into English from other languages, including Dutch and Flemish.[3][7]

Biography

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Early life

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Stevens was born in Smithfield, Maine, the son of Earl Wade and Leonora May (Witham) Stevens.[8] He had his first poem published at age 13 in the Waterville Morning Sentinel, a Maine newspaper.[8]

As a young man he enlisted in the U.S. Army in February 1946 for the duration of the war, plus six months.[9] Afterward, he earned a B.S. in 1953 from Teachers College of Connecticut (now known as Central Connecticut State University).[2]

Writing career

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C. J. Stevens, Author

The United States Library of Congress contains a special collection of Stevens' works.[3] He published over 30 books, including poetry, short stories, non-fiction, and biography.[3] He said he submitted his poems "haphazardly" over the years to publishers, being a contributor to The Nation, Prairie Schooner, Literary Review, Modern Age, The Post-Crescent, and other publications.[10][11][12][13] By 1990, his poems and stories had also been published in 400 magazines, and more than 50 anthologies and texts.[3]

Poetry

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Stevens wrote nearly 20 books of poetry. His first book of published poetry, and his only book published under the name "Clysle Stevens", was Loose Stones: First Poems, published by Hitchcock Press in 1954.[2] He published his next 13 books of poetry under the pen name "John Stevens Wade".

These were

  • Climbs of Uncertainty (New Athenaeum Press, 1961),[2]
  • Northeast (Hammond Press, 1963),
  • Two from Where it Snows, with John Judson (Northeast Chapbook Series, 1964),[2]
  • Drowning in The Dark (The Group, 1965),[2]
  • Small World (The Group, 1965),
  • Gallery: Drawings by Tom Ricciardi (Poet & Printer, 1969),[2]
  • The Backhouse (Funch Press, 1971),
  • The Cats in the Colosseum (Crossing Press, 1972, ISBN 0-912278-23-4),[2]
  • Well Water and Daisies (Northeast/Juniper Books, 1974, ISBN 1-55780-012-X),[2][14]
  • Each to His Own Ground (Juniper Press, 1976, ISBN 1-55780-053-7),[2]
  • Some of My Best Friends Are Trees (Sparrow Press, 1978)[2]
  • Homecoming (Icarus Press, 1979),[2] and
  • Up North (Juniper Press, 1980, ISBN 1-55780-061-8)[2]

He then began publishing under the name "C.J. Stevens", and produced

His poetry also appeared in the works of other people. For example, his poetry appeared, under the name John Stevens Wade, in

His poetry also appeared under "C. J. Stevens" in

Short stories

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Stevens wrote two collections of short stories, both under the name C. J. Stevens. They are The Folks from Greeley's Mill and other Maine Stories ( J. Wade, 1992, ISBN 0-9623934-8-7), and Confessions: New and Selected Stories (John Wade, 1998, ISBN 1-882425-10-3).

Non-fiction

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Stevens and his wife began prospecting in about 1970, and found gold in more than 30 rivers.[3] When his book The Next Bend in the River: Gold Mining in Maine (John Wade, 1989, ISBN 0-9623934-0-1) about discovering gold in Maine was published, many readers were amazed to learn that gold nuggets can be found by panning certain rivers.[2][15][16][17][18]

He also wrote the related book, Memoirs of a Maine Gold Hunter (John Wade, 2005, ISBN 1-882425-22-7), about panning for gold and searching for treasure.[19]

He wrote additional non-fiction including:

In his book about the supernatural in Maine, he d out-of-body experiences, witches, haunted houses, alien abductions, and people from Maine who faced the supernatural.[2] in 2002.[20]

Biographies

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Stevens wrote a series of biographies starting in the late 1980s. Two were biographies connected to a period in D. H. Lawrence's life in Cornwall

In 2000 Stevens published a biography of the American writer Erskine Caldwell,

in 2004 a biography of English primitive artist Bryan Pearce.

Translations

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Stevens also had a career as a translator, translating a number of books to English from Dutch and Flemish. Under the name John Stevens Wade he translated Terrena Troubahi, by Paul De Vree (Ganglia Press) in 1960, Poems from the Lowlands (Small Pond) from the Dutch and Flemish in 1967,[2][21] Thirty-One New Poets (Schreiber (editor), Hill & Wang Pub, 1968, ISBN 0-8090-0090-3), Waterland: A Gathering from Holland (Holmgangers Press, 1977, translator from the Dutch),[2] and From the Flemish of Gaston Burssens (Arts End Books, 1982, ISBN 0-933292-11-2)[2] Subsequently, translating under the name C. J. Stevens, he translated One Score-And-Two Years of Uncommon Fanfare (John Edward Westburg (editor), Westburg Asso Pub, 1986, ISBN 0-87423-040-3), and collected and translated Poems from Holland and Belgium (John Wade, 1999, ISBN 1-882425-13-8).

Career outside writing

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Over his lifetime, Stevens had many jobs: as a farmer, deliveryman, selectman, and assistant manager at Carvel Hall, an Annapolis landmark.[22] Stevens lived overseas for five years, two of those in the Netherlands, moving approximately every six months to countries including Ireland, England, Portugal, and Malta.[2][23]

His interest in images led him to become a poet and a writer. It also led to a second career in painting, and along with his writing, he compiles a photographer's portfolio.[24] Photographs of his paintings may be seen at this photography site. His biographies and other non-fiction are unusual, in that in all cases he had access to either the subject or to someone intimate with the subject–a wife, friend, lover, or mother.[24]

Stevens also lectured and traveled extensively, living in Phillips, Maine, in Weld, Maine, in Temple, Maine, and in South Carolina with his Dutch wife Stella Rachel (née Taschlicky) Stevens, whom he married on June 13, 1954.[1][3][4][8][25][26]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d The Art of Bicycling: A Treasury of Poems. Justin Daniel Belmont (editor). Breakaway Books, 2005, ISBN 1-891369-56-3.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "CJ Stevens (1927– ); Genre: Short Stories, Non-Fiction, Poetry" Archived July 18, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Waterboro Public Library. Retrieved on July 10, 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Robin Hunt Caruso, "Thrill of Gold Mining is in the Hunt, says Author" Archived March 20, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, Sun Journal, June 4, 1990. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
  4. ^ a b Stanley McNail (1972). The Galley Sail Review. AMS Press. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  5. ^ "Obituary: Clysle Julius "C.J." Stevens". January 7, 2022. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  6. ^ "C. J. Stevens' 'Buried Treasures'; Mines Fertile Fields in Maine". Portland Press Herald. February 15, 1998. Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
  7. ^ Annotated books received. American Literary Translators Association, University of Texas at Dallas. 1995. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  8. ^ a b c Curt Johnson (1988). Who's Who in U.S. Writers, Editors & Poets. December Press. ISBN 0-913204-21-8. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  9. ^ "Enlistment Record of Clysle J. Stevens". Maine Genealogy. Archived from the original on March 19, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
  10. ^ Mary Biggs (1990). A Gift that Cannot be Refused: the Writing and Publishing of Contemporary American Poetry. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-26673-7. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2008.
  11. ^ Discourse: a Review of the Liberal Arts. Concordia College. 1967. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  12. ^ C. J. Stevens (1989). Beginnings and other poems. J. Wade. ISBN 0-9623934-3-6. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  13. ^ C. J. Stevens (1995). Selected poems. J. Wade. ISBN 1-882425-04-9. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  14. ^ Wolfgang Mieder (1987). Tradition and Innovation in Folk Literature. University Press of New England. ISBN 0-87451-387-1. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  15. ^ "C.J. Stevens' New Book on Nearly Two Centuries of Maine Mining a Real Gem". Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel. September 25, 1994. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
  16. ^ Brenda Seekins (September 2, 1995). "Nugget of truth in 'them thar Maine hills'; Persistence can pay off when panning for golf in the Swift River valley". Bangor Daily News. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
  17. ^ Jim Buchta (December 22, 1996). "Farmington, Maine; Bustling retreat nestled in forest". Star Tribune. Minneapolis, MN. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
  18. ^ "TV Show to Focus on Hedgehog Hill" Archived March 20, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, Sun Journal, October 27, 1989. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
  19. ^ Gary Shapiro (July 14, 2006). "Of Treasure & Trash". The New York Sun. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
  20. ^ Dana Wilde (January 20, 2003). "Weird facts of Maine cataloged". Bangor Daily News. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
  21. ^ "Ole". Tucson Citizen. 1964. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
  22. ^ Yvette Raymond, "Retired Professor Pans for Gold in Maine" Archived March 20, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, Sun Journal, October 21, 1989
  23. ^ Resurgence. 1972. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  24. ^ a b C. J. Stevens (July 25, 2007). "Statement". Cjstevensphotography.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  25. ^ "Author to Talk on Gold Mining" Archived March 20, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, Sun Journal, May 28, 1990. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
  26. ^ Lisa Price, "Voices for Blind Focuses on Maine Authors" Archived March 20, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, Sun Journal, September 7, 1995
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