University of North Dakota

Thomas Matthew McGrath, was a celebrated American poet. McGrath grew up on a farm in Ransom County, North Dakota. He earned a B.A. from the... University of North Dakota at Grand Forks He served in the Aleutian Islands with the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. He was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, at Oxford. McGrath also pursued postgraduate studies at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He taught at Colby College in Maine and at Los Angeles State College, from which he was dismissed in connection with his appearance, as an unfriendly witness, before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1953. Later he taught at North Dakota State University, and Minnesota State University, Moorhead. He was married three times and had one son. McGrath wrote mainly about his own life and social concerns. His best-known work is probably Letter to an Imaginary Friend published in sections between 1957 and 1985 and as a single poem in 1997 by Copper Canyon Press. Best of all, Letter to an Imaginary Friend licks its fingers and burps at the table.
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James Maxwell Anderson was an American playwright, author, poet, journalist and lyricist. Anderson was born in Atlantic, Pennsylvania, the second of... eight children to William Lincoln "Link" Anderson, a Baptist minister, and Charlotte Perrimela Stephenson, both of Scots and Irish descent. His family initially lived on his maternal grandmother Sheperd's farm in Atlantic, then moved to Andover, Ohio, where his father became a railroad fireman while studying to become a minister. They moved often, to follow their father's ministerial posts, and Maxwell was frequently sick, missing a great deal of school. He used his time sick in bed to read voraciously, and both his parents and Aunt Emma were storytellers, which contributed to Anderson's love of literature. During a visit to his grandmother's house in Atlantic, at age 11, he met the first love of his life, Hallie Loomis, a slightly older girl from a wealthier family. His autobiographical tale, Morning, Winter and Night told of rape, incest and sadomasochism on the farm. It was published under a pseudonym, John Nairne Michealson, to prevent offending family.
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Gordon Henry is an enrolled member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe of Minnesota, and was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He received his PhD... in Literature from the University of North Dakota and is currently a professor of English at Michigan State University. Henry's first novel, The Light People , explores Chippewa life and culture and the style takes some of its elements from the Chippewa style of oral story telling. He co-authored the textbook "Ojibwa" ,Mason Crest Publishers , and has recently released a book of poetry, "The Failure of Certain Charms", . Gordon has also published a wide array of short stories and poems in various journals and anthologies. Secondary References: Maceda, Maria Theresa Gilbert. "Nuevas Tendencias De La Literatura Indian de Norte Americana: Entrevista A Gordon Henry, Escritor Anishinabe." A Distancia:Revista de la Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia. Primavera. Madrid, Spain. . xxxiv - xxxviii. Arce, Mario Luce. "Henry: Los Nativos Americanos No Quieran Cargado con Imagenes del Pasado." La Nueva España de Asturias . 27 de Mayo de 1995.
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