..." And the glory came early in Dickey's career: six years after his first collection appeared in
Poets of Today VII (1960), he won the 1966 National Book Award for
Buckdancer's Choice (1965); four years after that, his novel
Deliverance made him famous almost beyond the hopes of any American poet. Writing for
Triquarterly (Fall 1978) about his experiences as editor of
Quarterly Review of Literature, Theodore Weiss recalls corresponding in the late 1950s "with the young James Dickey, encouraging him in his obviously distinctive, powerful poetry and advising him--foolishly, as it turned out--to continue (since he and his poetry were doing so well) as an advertising writer rather than take a teaching position. He had told us he required $25,000 a year, his then salary. Out of our long academic experience we believed the expectation of such a salary in teaching was pure fantasy. We had not reckoned with Dickey's personality, did not know his talents as a public reader and performer. In good American style, he proved that even poetry can be made to pay."
Despite all the glory and fortune proceeding from the world of best-selling novels and movies, Dickey has persisted in his claims that "Poetry is ...
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