Friends celebrate life of poet in Sisters Country

The profound power of the written word was on full display Friday night during a birthday celebration for Oregon's Poet Laureate and grand gentleman of letters, the late William Stafford.

A standing-room-only cr owd of friends, fellow writers and former students filled Paulina Springs Books to share poems and remembrances of Stafford and his elegant works with readings, anecdotes - and birthday cake.

Stafford passed away in 1993 in Lake Oswego after a brilliant career as an author, teacher and poet, amassing over 60 collections of poetry and prose, including 12 complete volumes of poems, and serving as Poet Laureate of Oregon from 1975-1989.

The Friends of William Stafford, a nonprofit group dedicated to raising awareness of literature and poetry through the legacy of the award-winning poet, co-hosted the event and set up a display table with membership forms and limited-edition, illustrated prints of his meditations and poetry.

The vintage-style prints were produced on an old-fashioned letter press by a small firm in Half Moon Bay, California.

Dennis Schmidling, director of the society and member of the board of trustees, thanked everyone for coming out on such a slippery January evening.

"It's always amazing to me that Bill can move so many and his voice seems to draw people so profoundly," he said. "In 2000 at our second-ever event there were 120 people, many who stood outside and looked in through the window."

A brief video was shown, highlighting Stafford's distinctive gestures and mannerisms and unique way of seeing himself through nature and the world.

"He was a humble man, a simple man," said Schmidling. "When I first met Bill he stopped my world. His authority and all that charisma was amazing. He had such an incredible sense of self-awareness, and listened to his world."

Local writer and naturalist Jim Anderson shared his personal favorites with the audience, poems pronouncing Stafford's connection to nature, the tragic loss of a child and the gentler rhythms of earth, air and rock.

Nature of Words founder Ellen Waterston, herself an acclaimed poet and author, took the lectern and read a selection of poems, including "Choosing A Dog" and "Scale House," a moving poem about weighing cattle.

"This is a wonderful ritual, these celebrations of William Stafford," she said.

Stafford's daughter, Americana Project teacher and artist Kit Stafford, brought a bundle of mementos including a child's buckskin dress obtained on one of their many family road trips. She shared poems of her father that captured the "dream of Sisters Country" and the other side of the mountains where they called home.

"His writings would often begin in the morning with a dream," she recalled. "Words coming together and finding each other."

Kit read a cherished poem entitled "Where We Live," as a salute to everyone who came out to join her in recognizing her father's birthday in Sisters.

Jay Bowerman, of the Sunriver Nature Center, stood and read a favorite poem of Stafford's, as well as one of his own about an owl.

"Each time I read from his poetry, a different one will strike deeply," he said.

After the last reading, Schmidling lit the birthday cake and held it aloft as the room sang "Happy Birthday."

For more information on Stafford's many works and the Friends of William Stafford, visit www.williamstafford.org.