Net worth | $5 million |
---|---|
Full Name | Wendell Erdman Berry |
Date of birth | August 5, 1934 |
Place of birth | Henry County, Kentucky, United States |
Age | 89 years old (as of 2023) |
Ethnicity | White |
Nationality | American |
Zodiac sign | Leo |
Height | 5′ 8″ (1.72m) |
Weight | 174 pounds (79 kg) |
Religion | Christianity |
Occupation | Poet, farmer, writer, activist, and academic |
Genre | Fiction, poetry, essays |
Years active | 1960–present |
Notable work | The Unsettling of America |
Notable awards | The National Humanities Medal |
Introduction
Imagine a man whose words carry the rich, earthen scent of the Kentucky countryside and whose writings breathe life into the forgotten rhythms of rural America. Wendell Berry is more than just a prolific author; he’s a guardian of the land, a sentinel for the sanctity of small communities, and a bard of the enduring beauty found in simplicity. Through the tapestry of his novels, such as the timeless saga of Port William in works like A Place on Earth and Jayber Crow, he invites us to walk alongside characters whose lives are woven into the fabric of the earth itself.
Berry’s essays, like the profound insights within The Unsettling of America, awaken a dormant reverence for the delicate balance between humanity and nature. His legacy as a farmer and environmental advocate resonates deeply, planting seeds of contemplation in the minds of those who long for a deeper connection with the earth and its stories.
Early Life and Education
Picture a young Wendell Berry, shaped by the verdant embrace of Henry County, Kentucky, where the soil whispered tales of generations past. As the eldest among four siblings, he inherited a legacy of farming and the law, a heritage rooted deeply in the land’s fertile history. His early days were adorned with the essence of rural life, a symphony of tobacco fields, and the gentle sway of Kentucky’s rolling hills.
Educational pursuits led him through the corridors of Millersburg Military Institute, where discipline intertwined with his burgeoning love for language and literature. The University of Kentucky became his next chapter, where the seeds of his literary vocation sprouted and bloomed into the lush gardens of academia. Here, fate intertwined his journey with Gurney Norman, another soul destined to etch Kentucky’s essence onto the pages of history.
The enriching fragrance of education carried him further to Stanford University, where the tutelage of renowned minds like Wallace Stegner infused his spirit with the essence of literary craftsmanship. Among peers like Larry McMurtry, Robert Stone, and Ken Kesey, Berry’s creative roots delved deeper into the fertile ground of storytelling.
It was amidst this intellectual embrace that his first novel, the heralded Nathan Coulter, took its inaugural breath, weaving the tapestry of rural life and the delicate threads that connect human hearts to the earth they call home.
Career and Work
Years | Career and Work |
1962 to 1964 | Taught English at the University Heights |
1964 | Taught creative writing at the University of Kentucky |
1965 to 1978 | Farming |
1978 to 1980 | Writer and editor at Rodale, Inc. |
1987 to 1993 | English Department of the University of Kentucky |
Years | Work as a Writer and Poet |
1960 | Nathan Coulter |
1967 | A Place on Earth |
1974 | The Memory of Old Jack |
1986 | The Wild Birds |
1988 | Remembering |
1992 | Fidelity: Five Stories |
1994 | Watch With Me and Six Other Stories |
1996 | A World Lost |
2000 | Jayber Crow |
2002 | Three Short Novels |
2004 | Hannah Coulter |
2004 | That Distant Land |
2006 | Andy Catlett: Early Travels |
2009 | Whitefoot: A Story from the Center of the World |
2012 | A Place in Time |
2017 | The Art of Loading Brush |
2018 | Port William Novels & Stories, The Civil War to World War II |
2019 | Stand By Me |
2022 | How It Went |
1969 | The Long-Legged House |
1970 | The Hidden Wound |
1971 | The Unforeseen Wilderness |
1972 | A Continuous Harmony |
1977 | The Unsettling of America |
1981 | The Gift of Good Land |
1981 | Recollected Essays |
1983 | Standing by Words |
1986 | Meeting the Expectations of the Land |
1987 | Home Economics: Fourteen Essays |
1990 | Descendants and Ancestors of Captain James |
1990 | Life and Work |
1990 | What Are People For? |
1991 | Standing on Earth |
1992 | Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community |
1995 | The Farm |
1996 | Another Turn of the Crank |
2000 | Grace |
2000 | Life Is a Miracle |
2001 | In the Presence of Fear |
2002 | The Art of the Commonplace |
2003 | Citizens Dissent |
2003 | Citizenship Papers |
2004 | Tobacco Harvest: An Elegy |
2005 | Blessed Are the Peacemakers |
2005 | The Way of Ignorance and Other Essays |
2009 | Bringing It to the Table |
2010 | Imagination in Place |
2010 | What Matters? Economics for a Renewed Commonwealth |
2011 | The Poetry of William Carlos Williams of Rutherford |
2012 | It All Turns on Affection |
2014 | Distant Neighbors |
2015 | Our Only World: Ten Essays |
2017 | The Art of Loading Brush |
2018 | The World-Ending Fire |
2019 | Essays 1969-1990 |
2019 | Essays 1993-2017 |
2022 | The Need to Be Whole |
1964 | The Broken Ground |
1964 | November twenty-six nineteen hundred sixty-three |
1968 | Openings |
1970 | Farming: A Hand Book |
1973 | The Country of Marriage |
1974 | An Eastward Look |
1974 | Sayings and Doings |
1977 | Clearing |
1979 | The Gift of Gravity |
1980 | A Part |
1982 | The Wheel |
1985 | The Collected Poems: 1957–1982 |
1987 | Sabbaths: Poems |
1988 | Traveling at Home |
1994 | Entries |
1995 | The Farm |
1998 | A Timbered Choir |
1999 | The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry |
2002 | The Gift of Gravity |
2004 | Sabbaths 2002 |
2005 | Given: New Poems |
2007 | Window Poems |
2008 | The Mad Farmer Poems |
2008 | Sabbaths 2006 |
2010 | Leavings |
2011 | Sabbaths 2009 |
2012 | New Collected Poems |
2013 | This Day |
2014 | Terrapin and Other Poems |
2015 | Sabbaths 2013 |
2016 | A Small Porch |
2016 | Roots to the Earth |
2018 | Sabbaths 2016 |
Net Worth
Year | Net Worth |
2023 | $5 million |
Family and Relationship
Relation | Name/Info |
Father | John Marshall Berry |
Mother | Virginia Erdman Berry |
Siblings | 3 |
Spouse | Tanya Amyx (1957-present) |
Children | Den Berry, Mary Dee Berry |
Achievements and Awards
Year | Achievements and Awards |
1958 | Wallace Stegner Fellowship |
1961 | Guggenheim Fellowship |
1965 | Rockefeller Fellowship |
1971 | Arts and Letters Award |
1993 | UK Libraries Medallion for Intellectual Achievement |
1994 | Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry |
1999 | Thomas Merton Award |
2000 | Poets’ Prize |
2003 | Lifetime Achievement Award |
2005 | Kentuckian of the Year |
2006 | Art of Fact Award |
2008 | Premio Artusi |
2009 | The Cleanth Brooks Medal for Lifetime Achievement |
2009 | The Louis Bromfield Society Award |
2010 | The National Humanities Medal |
2012 | The 41st Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities |
2012 | The Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award |
2012 | Russell Kirk Paideia Prize |
2013 | American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ fellow |
2013 | The Roosevelt Institute’s Freedom Medal |
2013 | The Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award |
2013 | The Martin E. Marty Award |
2014 | The Allen Tate Poetry Prize |
2015 | Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame |
2016 | Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award |
2016 | The Sidney Lanier Prize |
2017 | IACP Trailblazer |
2019 | Kentucky Humanities Carl West Literary Award |
2022 | Founders Award |
2022 | Henry Hope Reed Award |
Quick Facts
- He is a multi-talented guy, who works as a novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer.
- He is the author of more than 50 books, including novels, poetry collections, and essay collections.
- His work is known for its focus on rural life, agrarian themes, and environmentalism.
- He is a staunch advocate for sustainable agriculture and environmental stewardship.
- He is also a skilled carpenter and has built many of the structures on his farm.
FAQs
Q: What is Wendell Berry best known for?
A: He is best known for his novels, poetry, and essays on rural life, agrarian themes, and environmentalism. He is a leading voice for rural America and a prominent figure in the environmental movement.
Q: What is Wendell Berry’s most famous book?
A: His most famous book is The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture. In this book, he argues that modern American culture has become increasingly alienated from the land and that this alienation is at the root of many of our social and environmental problems.
Q: What is Wendell Berry’s philosophy of farming?
A: He believes that farming should be sustainable and that it should be seen as a way of life rather than a business. He advocates for small-scale, diversified farms that are integrated into the local community.
Q: What are Wendell Berry’s views on environmentalism?
A: He is a strong advocate for environmental stewardship, and he believes that we have a moral obligation to protect the natural world for future generations.
Q: What are Wendell Berry’s political beliefs?
A: He is a self-described “libertarian agrarian.” He believes in the importance of individual liberty and local autonomy. He is also a critic of centralized government and large corporations.