Through all this drift and clamor
You have survived—in the cramped
and haunted effigy, another entry
on the historian’s dated page.

                         from “Ice Child” by John Haines

John Haines, 86, died on March 2, 2011, according to the Anchorage Daily News-Miner. He was a former Alaska Poet Laureate and author of over ten collections of poetry and prose. His first book, Winter News, published in 1966, brought him national acclaim. Among many other prizes, Haines received the Lenore Marshall/The Nation Award for his book, New Poems, published in 1990. Author Dan O’Neill said, “The man could be irritating and exasperating, but when he put the pen on the paper, something else happened.”

Current Alaska Poet Laureate and University of Alaska-Fairbanks professor, Peggy Shumaker said, “his is a major and marvelous voice. There’s no question that he’s one of Alaska’s finest writers and that his work sets a high standard for anyone writing in or from Alaska… all of us have much to learn from him.”