Garrett, prodigious writer and professor, dies at age 78

The protagonist may be gone but his stories go on.

George Garrett, former Virginia poet laureate, accomplished novelist, essayist and former head of the University of Virginia’s creative writing program, died at his home Sunday night after a lengthy illness, surrounded by his family, his children and grandchildren, according to his wife and fellow author, Susan Garrett.

Garrett, 78, won 14 prestigious awards for his writing, had published nine novels, seven collections of short stores, eight poetry collections, eight collections of essays, three plays and several screenplays. He served as the state’s top poet from 2002 to 2004.

From 1984 until his retirement in 2000, Garrett was the Henry Hoyns Professor of Creative Writing at UVa.

The author, who never embraced technology but wrote poems, novels, short stories and criticisms on yellow legal paper with a fountain pen, embraced a variety of styles and motifs. In 1996’s “The King of Babylon Shall Not Come Against You” the story is presented in a past-present narrative. His acclaimed “Elizabethan Trilogy” series of novels delves into historical fiction, and 2004’s “Double Vision” blurs reality and fantasy.

“He was a major American writer, a Southern writer, who never wrote the same book twice and was proud of always doing something new and different,” said R.H.W. Dillard, an author and writing professor at Hollins University and a former student of Garrett at UVa. “He was always looking for new ways to present a story. He’d always tell me I should write the story of Moby Dick from the whale’s perspective and I was never sure if he was joking.”

Garrett may best be known by his peers for his sense of humor, his ever-present grin and for giving time and consideration to aspiring writers.

“George took his art and his craft very seriously, but he never played the ‘artist’ game. He was an extremely generous person who would be greatly annoyed by the description. Still, he gave his time and expertise to new writers. The joke goes that George had 10,000 friends and 10,000 people who owed him something,” Dillard recalled.

Peter Walpole is one writer who benefited from Garrett’s generosity. Walpole approached the writer after completing a manuscript for his book “The Healer of Harrow Point.”

“I was a substitute mail man for him, which means I delivered the mail once a week and we’d talk every now and then about writing,” Walpole recalled. “Two years later, when the publisher accepted my manuscript, I took a chance and asked George if he’d review it.”

Not only did Garrett review it, he wrote Walpole’s book a “cover blurb,” offering a positive review.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Walpole said. “He agreed to look at a book from a former substitute mailman, a new-age, young-adult novel — not just one despised genre, but two — read it and wrote a blurb. He didn’t need to do that. He could easily have said no, but that’s the way he was.”

Garrett’s tutelage helped prepare other writers for careers, including Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Henry Taylor and author Kelly Cherry, professor emeritus of English at the University of Wisconsin.

“He has been the single most important influence in my professional life,” said Paul Ruffin, head of the Texas Review Press at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. “He could do it all. He could write short stories and novels, he could write poetry and he was a great teacher and editor. I wanted to be like George Garrett. He’s had a profound impact on American writing. ”

Ruffin recalled many trips with Garrett through the Texas countryside, going to writing seminars and events. Ruffin also published Garrett, including his 2002 musings on the life of a writer, “Going to See the Elephant.”

“My daughter called him the Grin Man because he was always grinning and always fun to be with,” Ruffin said. “We spent a lot of time together and we always had a great time. He was a kind, fun human being.”

Garrett’s wife of 54 years echoed Ruffin’s sentiment.

“We met at a friend’s wedding,” she recalled. “He was bright, fun and laughed a lot and he was just delightful.”

Funeral services for Garrett are scheduled for 11 a.m. June 7 at St. Paul’s Memorial Church. A reception will follow in the parish hall.

A memorial service will be held at UVa this fall, followed by a reception at Carr’s Hill.