David Ray
- Published: September 6, 2024
May 20, 1932–Aug. 8, 2024
David Eugene Ray, poet, editor and teacher, passed away peacefully at home on Aug. 8, 2024. He was 92.
David was born on May 20, 1932, in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, to Dowell A. Ray and Katherine (Jennings) Ray. A sister, Mary Ellen, was born in 1933. The family lived on “Grampa Ray’s” share-cropped farm until David’s father became a barber and they moved to small towns.
When their parents divorced, David and Mary Ellen moved between care by relatives and foster homes and a children’s home in Tulsa. These early years David described much later in a memoir, “The Endless Search.”
When he was 15, David, who had asthma, moved to Arizona, where he graduated from Tucson High School and then earned a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Chicago. He went on to an academic career as editor, lecturer and professor of English and creative writing at many institutions, including Cornell University, Reed College, the University of Iowa Writers Workshop and the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he became professor emeritus. In Kansas City, he was also editor of the literary magazine New Letters, and founded the radio program, New Letters on the Air, which aired on NPR stations.
In the 1960s, David Ray co-founded, with Robert Bly, American Writers Against the Vietnam War, organizing and encouraging “read-ins” at protest gatherings, and in the years since he wrote extensively in response to wars and environmental issues as well as topics of family, grief and art. He published 22 books of poetry, a memoir, chapbooks and numerous essays and stories; several of these publications won literary awards. In his concern for society and the environment, he also wrote numerous opinion columns and letters to newspaper editors.
With a spirit of adventure and inquiry, David sought out new experiences by becoming a visiting professor in India, New Zealand and Australia, spending several months in each diverse place, which he wrote about extensively in poetry books and essays. He also received fellowships to spend time in such places as the Rockefeller Center in Bellagio, Italy, and the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France. A number of David’s students from various locations and years have expressed gratitude for the specific encouragement he gave for their creative writing work.
First in Kansas City and then in Tucson, David became a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), drawn by their testimonies of peace and equality, and appreciating the sense of community, small and large.
David is survived by his third wife, Judy; his daughter, Winifred Catherine (from his first marriage to Florence Lorenz); and step-daughters Wesley Jean (from his second marriage to Ruth Counsell) and Sapphina. David also has three grandchildren: Nancy, James and David. David’s son, Samuel (from his second marriage), died in an accident in 1984.
David and Judy moved to Tucson, Arizona, in 1997. It was there that David passed away from complications from Parkinson’s.
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