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Originally published on October 25, 2016 By Tom Ross 听
Steamboat Springs 鈥� Colorado State Historian Patty Limerick offered no easy answers Oct. 24 to questions about the complex personality of Wallace Stegner, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer about the American West. However, Limerick succeeded in weaving humorous anecdotes into her talk at the Bud Werner Memorial Library, while confronting controversial aspects of Stegner鈥檚 career.听
鈥淗e was certainly a complex person, like everyone in the room,鈥� Limerick said.听
And she promised by the end of the evening to discuss the greatest paradox on Stegner鈥檚 resume 鈥� his decision to appropriate long passages from the correspondence of a late 19th century illustrator and writer Mary Hallock Foote in his prize-winning novel 鈥淎ngle of Repose.鈥澨�
One Book Steamboat听
It is the life of Hallock Foote that is the basis for 鈥淎ngle of Repose,鈥� which is Bud Werner Memorial Library鈥檚 selection for this year鈥檚 鈥淥ne Book Steamboat.鈥� Although he acknowledged his reliance on the correspondence of others at the beginning of the book, Stegner did not specifically credit Hallock Foote, who is the book鈥檚 protagonist.听
Yet 鈥淎ngle of Repose鈥� is a beloved book, and members of Limerick鈥檚 Steamboat audience had read it more than once.听
As well as novels, Stegner wrote nonfiction historical books like 鈥淏eyond the Hundredth Meridian,鈥� his recounting of John Wesley Powell鈥檚 first descent of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.听
Limerick observed that Stegner鈥檚 bitterness over his father鈥檚 treatment of Stegner鈥檚 mother, which endured throughout his life, comes out in his fiction. At the same time, Limerick said, Stegner relished identifying a historic figure with a story to tell, a figure to whom he could 鈥渓end his current.鈥澨�
鈥淗e was a person who was enchanted by experiences well-captured by stories,鈥� she said of Stegner. 鈥淗e was magnetized by those stories.鈥澨�
Limerick, who is also a professor of environmental studies and history at the University of Colorado Boulder, and faculty director and chairperson of the board of CU鈥檚 Center of the American West, considered Stegner a personal friend. She came to know Stegner when she was quite young and in awe of him.听
Limerick shared some moments of self-deprecating humor stemming from their professional encounters.听
Stegner had been persuaded to talk to a large audience of admirers from a stage in Boulder, and Limerick, eager to please, found a way to embarrass herself in front of all of them.听
鈥淢r. Stegner gave a speech in front of 800 to 900 people in Boulder,鈥� Limerick recalled. 鈥淎 good share of them had brought their home libraries with them to be signed.鈥澨�
Limerick decided it was her job to track down a cold beer for the author. Returning with the frosty beverage, Limerick realized because the author was essentially seated on the floor and signing people鈥檚 books, it would be awkward to lean over and hand him the beer. Without really thinking it through, she got on one knee and proffered the beer with an extended arm.听
鈥淗e looked a little puzzled at first,鈥� Limerick deadpanned. 鈥淭hen, he kissed his fingers, put them on my forehead and said, 鈥楻ise and sin no more.鈥欌�澨�
Then, there is the matter of Stegner鈥檚 decision to appropriate the words Hallock Foote in 鈥淎ngle of Repose.鈥� He took that step, which still confounds academics, after consulting with one of Hallock Foote鈥檚 three granddaughters to whom he expressed in writing a desire to use the life of Hallock Foote and her husband in his book, without really specifying how, Limerick explained.听
鈥淲hen you read a novel you pick it up and expect to read the words of the novelist,鈥� Limerick said. The notion that the novelist used the words of another, 鈥渟eems a little like a violation of the social contract.鈥澨�
Yet, it was the cumulative work of Stegner that helped to batter down barriers to publishing for writers like Norman Maclean, author of 鈥淎 River Runs Through It,鈥� and 鈥淭his House of Sky鈥� by Ivan Doig.听
And ironically, the controversy over 鈥淎ngle of Repose鈥� brought Hallock Foote to the attention of a new generation of admirers.听