Yolo County CA Obituary Project Obituaries.....PAVLICH , Walter David  July 9 2002
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Peggy B. Perazzo pbperazzo@comcast.net August 13, 2004, 11:46 am

"The Davis Enterprise," Thursday, July 11, 2002
Walter D. Pavlich

Walter David Pavlich, an award-winning poet who also worked as a teacher,
firefighter and antiques dealer, died suddenly July 9, 2002, of natural causes
at his Davis home. Born on Aug. 8, 1956, he was 46.

A native of Portland, Pavlich wrote six books of poetry, including "Ongoing
Portraits," a Pushcart Writer's Choice Selection and "Running Near the End of
the World," which won the Joseph Henry Jackson Award of the San Francisco
Foundation and the Edwin Ford Piper Award of the University of Iowa Press.

His most recent book, "The Spirit of Blue Ink," was published last year by Swan
Scythe Press. The press was established by Pavlich's wife, UC Davis English
Professor Sandra McPherson, for the express purpose of publishing the works of
both established and relatively unknown poets.

Pavlich, who designed book covers and took photographs for Swan Scythe, was
especially proud of the publishing venture and the new talent it supported.

Pavlich graduated from the University of Oregon in Eugene and earned a master of
fine arts degree from the University of Montana where he studied with Richard
Hugo. As a child, Pavlich played trumpet and was a longtime fan of gospel music
and blues.

He worked for the National Forest Service as a firefighter during his years in
Montana and taught in the "Poets in the Schools" program in Montana, California
and Oregon and in three prisons including Folsom. He moved to Davis in 1985 and
was a Distinguished Visiting Writer at the University of Hawaii in 1997.

At the time of his death, Pavlich was working as an antiques dealer, running his
own online antiques and fine arts business at springtrees.com. He once said that
he collected things that have stories attached to them, pieces of history and
pieces of another person's life and times. The fact that he ran an antique
business on the Internet didn't hamper his writing at all -- one enhanced the
other, he said.

"They are two different activities completely that happen to co-mingle quite
well," he said. "Sandy and I travel quite frequently to flea markets to engage
in this ancient activity where people gather to buy and sell and barter in a big
open space. ... You can get almost anything."

His life in Davis was enriched, and he enriched the lives of many others,
through his participation in a spiritual fellowship. He was known for his gentle
nature, dry wit, vintage T-shirt collection and tender heart.

"If I had to choose, I'd choose to be a better person than a better writer," he
once told an interviewer. His friends knew him both as a good person and a
gifted writer.

"Walter was, I think, exactly who we want our poets to be," said Luke Breit,
president of the Sacramento Poetry Center. "Honest and fearless with language
but as accessible as air, he was the real thing, a truth-teller who did what all
good people aspire to: He's left the world richer by his presence."

Pavlich is survived by his wife and soulmate, Sandra McPherson, and her daughter
Phoebe Carlile; his sister, Melinda Pavlich-Latimer of Portland; his brother,
Paul Pavlich of Ashland; and his parents, George and Eleanor Pavlich of Portland.

Additional survivors include nephews Jackson, Adam and Matthew; and nieces
Rachel, Sarah and Zoe; and his beloved cat Doctor Jesus. He was preceded in
death by his aunt, Ruby Johnson.

A memorial service celebrating Pavlich's life will be held Saturday at 10 a.m.
at the Davis Funeral Chapel, 116 D St. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests
donations to the Walter Pavlich Poetry Prize: Swan Scythe Press, c/o Department
of English, University of California, One Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616.


Additional Comments:
Submitted with the permission of the "The Davis Enterprise," 315 G Street,
Davis, CA 95616.

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