November 2010Stegner, Wallace, Crossing to Safety
Although Wallace Stegner was born in Iowa, and lived in Montana for a short time, he grew up in Utah, attended Salt Lake City schools, and received his B.A. from the University of Utah. Utah proudly considers him one of their own. Stegner taught at the University of Wisconsin, Harvard, and Stanford, where he founded the creative writing program. His students included Sandra Day O’Connor, Edward Abbey, Wendell Berry, Ken Kesey, and Larry McMurtry—all well-known authors and other luminaries. He has taught creative writing seminars at the University of Utah. Stegner has authored more than thirty books (novels, non-fiction, and collections of short stories), and has received over twenty book awards. Last year, 2009, was the 100th anniversary of his birth. Governor Jon Huntsman’s declaration of February 18, 2009, as Wallace Stegner Day highlighted Stegner as "one of Utah's most prominent citizens...a legendary voice for Utah and the West as an author, educator, and conservationist...[who was] raised and educated in Salt Lake City and [at] the University of Utah, [and who] possess[ed] a lifelong love of Utah’s landscapes, people, and culture." You could read any of his books without hesitation, but here is one of my favs.
Crossing to Safety, published in 1987, is an absolutely astounding novel about the friendship of two couples who originally meet in Madison, Wisconsin. Stegner spins a wonderful tale about their relationship, in the meantime talking about various subjects, ranging from friendship, marriage, children, extended families, “publish-or-perish,” New England, illness, crippling disease, personal growth, and many other topics, all wound seamlessly into the story. His prose is so gorgeous and so profound that you want to read it aloud so as not to lose one thought.
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