For Release: Immediate 042-99
6/15/99
Minnesota Loses Quiet Literary Giant
Collegeville, Minn. - Writer James Farl (J.F.) Powers, considered one of the most celebrated Catholic writers in America during the 1950s and recipient of the 1963 National Book Award for his novel "Morte D'Urban," was found dead on Monday, June 14, at his home in Collegeville, Minn. Powers, age 81, died of natural causes. Powers was Regents' Professor of English and writer-in-residence at Saint John's University and the College of Saint Benedict from 1975 to 1993. Powers was also a part-time teacher at Saint John's in 1948.
Powers was born on July 8, 1917, in Jacksonville, Ill. Powers graduated from Quincy College Academy in 1935 and also took English and philosophy courses at Wright Junior College and Northwestern University in Chicago.
He was the author of three collections of short fiction, "Prince of Darkness" in 1947, "The Presence of Grace" in 1956, and "Look How the Fish Live" in 1975, along with novels "Morte D'Urban" in 1962 and "Wheat That Springeth Green" in 1988. Commonweal called his first novel "the work of a master" and 25 years later called his second novel "likewise the work of a master and, like 'Morte D'Urban,' a comedy of spiritual salvation played out in the story of a priest." Both of his novels follow the careers of a Minnesota priest. Much of his writing deals with the conflict between the spiritual and secular values in a materialistic society, mostly as seen through the daily experiences of the clergy. Powers contributed regularly to The New Yorker and received fellowships from the Rockefeller and Guggenheim Foundations.
"There was a paradox to Jim's life," said CSB/SJU professor of English Charles Thornbury, friend and colleague. "He wrote about everyday things, he found the ordinary, extraordinary. He had a presence, a quiet presence, but that was the paradox - he wore his fame quietly." Besides at Saint John's, Powers taught at the University of Michigan, Marquette University and Smith College and lived in Ireland on several occasions. Powers was a member of The American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1968. He was a National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle finalist for "Wheat That Springeth Green" and the recipient of the Wethersfield Institute Award in 1989. Powers received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Saint John's University in 1989.
His wife, Betty Wahl, and one daughter preceded Powers in death. Powers has four other children. Funeral arrangements are still pending.
Saint John's University for men and the College of Saint Benedict for women are partners in liberal arts education, providing students the opportunity to benefit from the distinctions of not one, but two nationally recognized Catholic, undergraduate colleges. Together the colleges challenge students to live balanced lives of learning, work, leadership and service in a changing world.
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