Yolo-Santa Barbara County CA Obituary Project Obituaries.....OWENS , Louis July 26 2002 ********************************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/obits/ca/obitsca.htm ********************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Peggy B. Perazzo pbperazzo@comcast.net August 7, 2004, 10:45 pm "The Davis Enterprise," Thursday, August 1, 2002 Louis Owens Louis Owens, an internationally acclaimed novelist and a scholar of Steinbeck and Native American literature, died on July 26, 2002, in Albuquerque, N.M., at the age of 54. He was born on July 18, 1948. Considered the country's leading critical interpreter of Native American literature, Owens received several top book awards for his fiction and scholarly work, had his novels translated into other languages and most recently participated in a lengthy interview on national television about his Steinbeck scholarship during the centennial celebration of the Salinas Valley writer. Owens was the author of five novels -- one of which, "Nightland," won the American Book Award in 1997, four books of literary criticism and a new collection of essays, "I Hear the Train." His academic career spanned two decades and five universities. Most recently, he was a professor of English and Native American studies at UC Davis, and headed the campus's Creative Writing Program. Born in Lompoc to migrant laborers, Owens spent his childhood moving between Mississippi and the Central Valley, picking beans and living in poverty. Owens' first book, "John Steinbeck's Re-Vision of America," was published in 1985, followed by "The Grapes of Wrath: Trouble in the Promised Land" in 1989. In May, he was the subject of a lengthy interview on C-Span regarding John Steinbeck and his literary legacy. Owens earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in English from UC Santa Barbara before coming in 1978 to UC Davis for his doctorate. During graduate school, Owens and his wife spent a year in Pisa, Italy, while Owens taught at the University of Pisa as a Fulbright Lecturer. Throughout his career, Owens was known for being extraordinarily prolific. Due to the number and quality of his publications, the time between his receiving his doctorate and being promoted to full professor at UC Santa Cruz was the shortest in the history of the University of California. Even in graduate school, while not working on his Steinbeck dissertation, Owens wrote his first novel, "Wolfsong." It was through this first novel, published in 1991, that Owens explored his Choctaw and Cherokee roots. Owens, who considered himself a mixed-blood American, explored the dilemmas of being from multiple heritages through much of his writing -- both in fiction and non-fiction. He won a Wordcraft Circle Writer of the Year Award in 1998 for "Mixedblood Messages: Literature, Film, Family, Place." He wrote many articles on Native American fiction before publishing his 1992 book, "Other Destinies: Understanding the American Indian Novel," which by now has become required reading in many college literature classes. In 1993 he won the PEN-Josephine Miles Awards for "Other Destinies" and his novel, "The Sharpest Sight" (1992). He also was awarded with the Julian J. Rothbaum Prize for his 1992 novel "Bone Game" in 1994. One of the awards he displayed proudly in his office was the 1995 Roman Noir Prize, a French award for the outstanding mystery novel published in French given to "The Sharpest Sight." His novels were translated into French, German and Japanese, and he appeared on French television more than once. Extraordinarily generous with his time and attention to students, Owens was a dedicated teacher who mentored and encouraged his students and other writers. Among the many recognitions for teaching that he received were the University of New Mexico Alumni Award for Teaching Excellence, the UCSC Alumni Association Distinguished Teaching Award, the UCSC Student Alumni Council Favorite Professor Award, and the Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award from the International Steinbeck Society. He was a Presidential Lecturer at the University of New Mexico for two years. From 1992 to 2000, Owens served on the faculty of UC Davis' Art of the Wild, a summer writing workshop on nature and the environment that drew nationally acclaimed writers. Owens was featured on a PBS one-hour special about the workshop. Owens is survived by his wife of 27 years, Polly; and his daughters, Elizabeth, 19, and Alexandra, 16, all of Tijeras, N.M.; his father Hoey; his brothers Gene, Troy and Richard; and his sisters Judy, Linda, Juanita and Brenda. A campus memorial service is being planned for fall quarter. Additional Comments: Submitted with the permission of the "The Davis Enterprise," 315 G Street, Davis, CA 95616. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/yolo/obits/gob1126owens.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/caobfiles/ File size: 5.1 Kb