Occasionally Carver would happen upon his father reading works by Zane Grey. Apart from serialized westerns, the young Carver read books by Edgar Rice Burroughs and magazines such as
Outdoor Life and
Sports Afield. He associated the act of reading with his father and was drawn to that introspective stance; he also associated alcohol with his father, who often would spend his weekend nights away from home with friends from the mill.
After graduating from Yakima High School in 1956, Carver went to work in the local sawmill. Hating his job, he stuck to it just long enough to buy a car and move out. On 7 June 1957 Carver married sixteen-year-old Maryann Burk, who was to become a teacher. Six months later their daughter, Christine, was born. In August 1958 the Carver family moved to Paradise, California, and he went from one low-paying job to another, while Maryann waited tables and sold items door-to-door. Vance, their son, was born that October. Carver and his wife were fastened to a life of responsibility, paying for rent, utilities, and food and clothing for their children and fearing medical emergencies, since they could not afford health insurance.
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