James Larkin Pearson

A Biography of North Carolinas Longest Serving Poet Laureate

By (author) Gregory S. Taylor

Publication date:

20 May 2015

Length of book:

246 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9781498505192

This work is the first academic biography of North Carolina poet laureate James Larkin Pearson (1879-1981). Using material from Pearson’s personal archive in Wilkes County, from the North Carolina Collection and the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and from contemporary examinations of his life and work, this study offers deeply personal insights into his life and provides extensive examinations of his hopes, joys, fears, pains, and sorrows. The work also includes lengthy studies of his poetry and his journalistic efforts and examines their place within the larger cultural milieu. In the process, the book addresses two themes that become apparent in Pearson’s life and work: his Tar Heel spirit and his individualism. He was a fighter who overcame poverty, a poor education, personal tragedies, and professional neglect to achieve great success. He also abided by his own set of religious, artistic, and political values regardless of the consequences. This work thus offers the first personal and professional examination of James Larkin Pearson, provides insights on North Carolina and its people, and examines the benefits and drawbacks of following one’s own path.

Chapter 1: The Mark
Chapter 2: “Over the Range”
Chapter 3: C-o-r-a
Chapter 4: The Fool Killer Part One: “A Paper of Comment”
Chapter 5: The Fool Killer Part Two: The Paper Evolves
Chapter 6: The Will to Get Well
Chapter 7: The Pleasure and the Pain
Chapter 8: “The Soul of Poetry”
Chapter 9: Poet Laureate
Chapter 10: Immortality, Poetry, and Politics
Chapter 11: “My Fingers and My Toes”

Taylor makes good use of the many autobiographical materials Pearson produced during his long life. . . .Taylor’s biography effectively captures details of rural life and places Pearson and his work into the trajectory of one hundred years of history. The book is a valuable historical account of a 'printer and poet' during a century of change.