Author Profile

Clinton Larson

Selected Works

  • The Prophet (1971)
  • Coriantumr and Moroni (1962)
  • Romaunt of the Rose (1983)
  • Homestead in Idaho (1989)

Born in 1919, Clinton F. Larson as a 16 year- old freshman at the University of Utah was planning on a career in medicine. It was an English class taught by Brewster Ghiselin that changed the course of his life. Ghiselin saw the potential in Larson's writing and encouraged him to seriously pursue it. Ghislein once was a student of D. H. Lawrence and Larson would later joke about being "a literary grandson of D. H. Lawrence."

Larson ended up teaching at Brigham Young University and in 1974 was appointed BYU's first Poet-in-Residence, a position that he held until his retirement in 1985. He was devoted to his students and never missed a day of class during his teaching career.

A prolific poet, he wrote over 5 volumes of poetry. He was also a prolific playwright, composing primarily poetic dramas on a variety of subjects. He enjoyed writing on religious topics and in the 1960s he wrote the text for the sixteen volumes of The Illustrated Stories from the Book of Mormon.

Larson served as an editor for several compilations of national and international poetry. He was also one of the founders of BYU Studies, the Rocky Mountain Writers' Convention, and the National Federation of State Poetry Societies. Larson passed away in 1994.

Captions

Collected Poems. Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1988.

"Alpha and Omega at the End" and "Homestead in Idaho" are proofs from Clinton F. Larson's Collected Poems. Authors read printer's proofs carefully to find mistakes that may have been made. Larson corrected the problems that he found in these proofs. Printing has come a long way since Gutenberg's press in 1440. Historically printing has been labor intensive. Gradually presses were run mechanically rather than by human strength. In the 1880s three important printing developments were made. Linotype was invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler and allowed a full line of print to be linked together. It was commonly used in newspapers, magazines and some books until the 1980s. Monotype developed by Tolbert Lanston created a punched tape that instructed the typecaster to create individual characters that formed a justified line. Monotype was used primarily for books. Halftone color processes were developed, but not commonly used until the 1930s and '40s. For more information see http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/halftone+process.

In the 1960s electronic phototypesetting machines were introduced, eliminating the dangerous hot-metal composing room. And in the 1970s, plateless printing began. Computers are used for many aspects of the printing process like typesetting. But everything is not completely automated. Pressmen are still needed to run the machines and ensure that the quality of printing is excellent. And proofs are still carefully read by authors.

View Images

  1. Collected Poems. Provo: Brigham Yung University Press, 1988: Alpha and OmegaAlpha and Omega
  2. Collected Poems. Provo: Brigham Yung University Press, 1988: Homestead in IdahoHomestead in Idaho
Literary Worlds