William Stafford (1914-1993) was born in Hutchinson, Kansas, in 1914. During the Second World War, as a conscientious objector, he was interned in former Civilian Public Service camps, an experience he described in Down in My Heart. Stafford published over sixty books of poetry and prose, including Traveling through the Dark, which won the National Book Award. He served as the Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, and taught at Lewis & Clark College for over thirty years. He died at his home in Lake Oswego, Oregon, on August 28, 1993.
