Born the year World War I began, acclaimed poet William Stafford
(1914—1993) spent World War II in a camp for conscientious objectors.
Throughout a century of conflict he remained convinced that war simply
doesn’t work. By his writings, Stafford showed that it is possible—and
crucial—to think independently when fanatics act, and to speak for
reconciliation when nations take sides. He believed it to be a failure
of imagination to see only two options: to fight or to run away.
This book gathers the evidence of a lifetime’s commitment to
nonviolence, including an account of Stafford’s near hanging at the
hands of American patriots. In excerpts from his daily journal from
1951 to 1993, Stafford uses questions, alternative views of history,
lyric invitations, and direct assessments of our political habits to
suggest a way other than war. Many of these statements are published
here for the first time, together with a generous selection of
Stafford’s pacifist poems and interviews from elusive sources.
Quotes:
“...Reams of relentlessly honest notes about war and peace.” —
Portland Magazine
"…Stafford offers a lifetime of lyrically posed observations postulated
from the perspective of a peacemaker. He pricks the thoughtful and
intellectual processes of adult and young adult readers to consider
alternate solutions in resolving conflicts.” — Plainfield Sun
“Minneapolis'
Milkweed Editions is preparing a manuscript of Stafford's poems on
peace and war, due out this fall. Most were published in previous
works, but the collection brings a few gems into the glistining light
for the first time.” —Sojourner's Magazine
"William Stafford
(1914-1993), a poet and winner of the National Book Award, was a
lifelong advocate of peace in a century of war. A conscientious
objector and pacifist, he spent 1942-1946 in Civilian Public Service
camps and social agencies fighting forest fires, building and
maintaining trails and roads, and training for post-war relief work. He
then taught high school, worked as a secretary to the director of
Church World Service, and completed his master's degree at the
University of Kansas. In 1948, he joined the faculty at Lewis
&Clark College in Portland, where he taught intermittently until
his retirement in 1978. Stafford is the author of 67 volumes of poetry
and prose. (para) This volume is incredibly relevant to the present
wartime situation. Kim Stafford has assembled material from his fathers
daily writing practice along with many poems. For over 50 years,
William Stafford was a member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, an
international community of people working to create conditions of
peace. He was a lifelong witness for full citizenship in the wide world
of nature, many cultures, and the boundless realm of the imagination.
One of the most remarkable things about this collection is the direct
bearing of his thoughts on the contemporary scene.... (para) There is a
sharp edge to these observations which were written years ago. The
wisdom of truth tellers does not age. We were moved by the eloquent and
compassionate lines ... Many people could use such a room right now.
This poignant collection of prose and poems is highly recommended for
all peacemakers. It is a spirit lifting resource” --
www.spiritualhealth.com
"“excerpt.' Poet William Stafford takes
the measure of the habits and conscience of politics and war in the
Milkweed Editions release of Every War Has Two Losers: William Stafford
on Peace and War. Born at the end of World War I and having spent World
War II as a conscientious objector in Civilian Public Service camps and
social agencies, Stafford offers a lifetime of lyrically posed
observations postulated from the perspective of a peacemaker. (para) He
pricks the thoughtful and intellectual processes of adult and young
adult readers to consider alternate solutions in resolving
conflicts”--suburbanchicagonews.com, Linda Piwowarczyk
". . . The
Portland writer and son of the late Oregon poet William Stafford,
compiles a thoughts-provoking collection of his father's writings on
peace and war issues, including thoughts about being a conscientious
objector in WWII, plus unpublished writings” - Seattle
Post-Intelligencer
"'Is it naïve to seek national and
international security through poetry?' asks Kim Stafford in his
introduction to a book that celebrates his father's pacifist ideology.
Published ten years after William Stafford's death, it is a fitting
tribute to a lifelong decpacifist and socially responsible American
poet. Stafford uses his father's poems, as well as interviews and daily
reflections, to show how dedicated he was to turning minds away from
war and how firmly he believed that weapons of steel were never the
answer. The book opens with a chapter from Down in My Heart (1947),
which recalls a formative time in William Stafford's development as a
pacifist and writer and the four years he spent in conscientious
objector camps in World War II. The book ends with excerpts from
interviews that touch on more contemporary wars, Vietnam and the Gulf.
Essentially an intimate and focused study, the book captures many of
the author's scribbled thoughts, but his poetry and antiwar thoughts
remain the heart of it. Timely and relevant, it will speak vividly to
many struggling to understand the fate of the post-9/11 world. Highly
recommended for all libraries”- Library Journal
“Kim Stafford's
collection of his father's most important writing on nonviolence and
reconciliation has much to recommend it, including a substantial
selection from William Stafford's unpublished“Daily Writings,”the
journal he kept from 1951 until his death in August 1993. The
collection also contains about 40 poems and several fascinating but
obscurely published interviews, along with various other unpublished
notes and statements. All of these will engage any reader genuinely
interested in understanding the logic and idealism of nonviolence and
reconciliation, especially as they were practiced by William Stafford
and the more than 12,000 conscientious objectors (COs) who
performed“alternative service”during World War II. Whether we're
revisiting pieces already familiar to us or encountering Stafford's
previously uncollected work...Stafford's writing has a haunting sense
of currency”- James R. Hepworth, Bloomsbury Review
"To the many
who knew him personally or through his work, he was not only an
innovative poet, but one who managed to bring his life and his writing
together into a seamless, striking witness to nonviolence and poetic
freedom. Stafford's poems range widely, taking readers on undogmatic,
even playful, yet deeply engaged adventures in language.... (summary of
Stafford's life) . . . Every War makes clear just how capacious and
wide-ranging Stafford's thinking on the challenges of peacemaking
actually was —and how essential, in a time when calls to perpetual war
ring from the most powerful voices in the land.... (more summary) . . .
We could do worse than pay attention to voices like Stafford's which
insist on patience, care and tact in whatever we do” -Jeff Gundy,
Christian Century
