Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1998 15:54:51 -0500 (EST) From: Orpheus <cwduff-AT-alcor.concordia.ca> Subject: hughes death Thursday October 29 10:04 AM EDT Britain's Poet Laureate Ted Hughes Dies Of Cancer By Paul Keller LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Poet Laureate Ted Hughes, one of the leading writers of his generation, died of cancer Wednesday at the age of 68, his publisher said Thursday. In a brief statement released through publishers Faber and Faber, the poet's family said: ``After a valiant 18-month fight against cancer, Ted Hughes died yesterday. The loss to his family is inestimable.'' Hughes is already ranked by many critics alongside major 20th century poets such as T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden and Ireland's Nobel Prize winner Seamus Heaney. Along with Heaney, he is also credited with helping to popularize poetry, breathing new life into the art form. But to some, the suicide of his wife, American poet Sylvia Plath, overshadowed his career, casting him as the villain in the century's most tragic literary love affair. Hughes was made Poet Laureate, or official poet, in 1984 and composed work for the Queen's 60th birthday and the Queen Mother's 90th birthday. Prime Minister Tony Blair said he was ``a towering figure in 20th century literature who even in his last years was producing great works.'' Hughes, who died peacefully at home, had not wanted anyone to know of his fight against cancer and asked his friends to keep the news secret, his publisher Matthew Evans said. Born in Yorkshire, in northern England, Hughes developed a taste for hunting and fishing as a boy and, through them, his wild, atavistic view of nature. He established his reputation as a poet in the mid-1950s with a series of electrifying works about animals and the natural world that used harsh, physical imagery. He also produced several books of children's verse, plays and translations of classical literature. His recently published ``Tales from Ovid'' won huge literary acclaim. The sequence of poems, ``Crow,'' the blackest of his books of poetry, retells the legend of creation and birth through the vision of a predatory, mocking crow ``screaming for blood'' amid the ``horror of creation.'' But his success as a poet and man of letters was matched by the tragedy visited on his personal life. When Plath put her head in a gas oven in 1963 after Hughes deserted her and their two children for another woman, he became a hate figure for many feminists who painted Plath as an icon and a quintessentially female victim. For years Hughes refused to speak about their marriage or Plath's suicide. He broke his silence earlier this year with the publication of ``Birthday Letters,'' 88 intensely emotional poems that depict their doomed love affair. ``Anyone who thought Hughes's reticence was proof of his hard heart will immediately see how stony they have been themselves,'' said poet and literary critic Andrew Motion. ``This is a book written by someone obsessed, stricken and deeply loving. There is nothing like it in literature.'' In 1962 Hughes left Plath for Assia Wevill, the wife of a friend. Seven years later Wevill killed both herself and Shura, the daughter she had with Hughes. In 1970 Hughes married Carol Orchard, the daughter of a Devon farmer, and became increasingly reclusive. Despite his fatal illness, Hughes continued to receive critical acclaim and awards right up to his death. Earlier this month, Queen Elizabeth honored him with the Order of Merit -- an exceptional distinction limited to 24 living recipients. _________________________________________________________________ To: cwduff-AT-alcor.concordia.ca Subject: Ted Hughes is dead (fwd) Subject: Ted Hughes is dead poetry etc - a list administered by John Kinsella - http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Square/8574/ after an 18-month battle with cancer. Just reported on BBCTV news. Subject: Obituary BBC radio announced this morning that Ted Hughes, Poet Laureate of Britain and Eliot enthusiast, has died. At the time of writing, I hadn't heard confirmation from any other source. Yours, Raphael Ingelbien, English Dept, University of Hull HU6 7RX, UK. Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 06:27:57 +1100 Subject: Re: Ted Hughes Here in AUSTRALIA (Sydney) Ted Hughes's death 'after an 18- month battle with cancer' was the lead story in the ABC 6 a.m. news. (In Oz ABC is NOT a commercial network; it is the Oz equivalent of the Beeb). Margaret Hargrave
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