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Clysle Julius (C.J.) Stevens (born in Smithfield, Maine, in 1927) is a writer. He has published 19 books, including poetry, short stories, non-fiction, and biography, been published in hundreds of magazines, and the United States Library of Congress contains a special collection of his works.

In 1998, the Portland Press Herald described him as "versatile and charismatic". Stevens has translated from other languages as well, including Dutch and Flemish.

Biography

Early life

Stevens had his first poem published at age 13 in the Waterville Morning Sentinel, a Maine newspaper. As a young man he signed up for the U.S. Army immediately after Pearl Harbor. Afterwards, he attended college at Connecticut State.

Writing career

He has published 19 books, including poetry, short stories, non-fiction, and biography, been published in hundreds of magazines, and the United States Library of Congress contains a special collection of his works. By 1990, his poems and stories had been published in 400 magazines, and more than 50 anthologies and texts. In addition, the United States Library of Congress contains a special collection of his works.

Stevens and his wife began prospecting in about 1970, and found gold in more than 30 rivers. When his book The Next Bend in the River: Gold Mining in Maine was published in 1989, many readers of his book were amazed to learn that gold nuggets can be found by panning certain rivers. He also wrote the related 2005 book, Memoirs of a Maine Gold Hunter.

In 2003, he published The Supernatural Side of Maine. He is writing a combination of biography and novel.

Career outside writing

Over his lifetime, he has had many jobs: as a Professor at The University of Wisconsin (who retired from the University to write and lecture), farmer, deliveryman, selectman, and assistant manager at Carvel Hall, an Annapolis landmark. Stevens lived overseas for five years, two of those in the Netherlands, moving approximately every six months to countries including Ireland, England, Portugal, and Malta.

He has always liked images, and this pushed him to be a poet and a writer. His love of images led to a second career in painting; and along with his writing, he is working on a photographer's portfolio. His biographies and other non-fiction are unusual, in that in all cases he has either had access to the subject himself or to someone intimate with the subject–a wife, friend, lover, or mother.

In addition, he has lectured extensively. He has lived in Phillips, Maine and Weld, Maine, and South Carolina, with his Dutch wife Stella.

Works

Poetry

• The Uncertain Cartographer: selected poems of CJ Stevens, Oracle Press, 1981
• Borderland Traveller: Poems, Oracle Press, 1985, ISBN 0881270385
• Beginnings and Other Poems, J. Wade, 1989, ISBN 0962393436
• Circling at the Chain's Length, J. Wade, 1991, ISBN 0962393444
• Hang-Ups: poems J. Wade, 1993, ISBN 1882425014
• Selected Poems, J. Wade, 1995, ISBN 1882425049
• Poems from Holland and Belgium, John Wade, 1999, ISBN 1882425138
• Shepherd without Sheep, John Wade, 2001, ISBN 1882425154
• Collected Poems, John Wade, 2002, ISBN 1882425197

Stories

• The Folks from Greeley's Mill and other Maine Stories, J. Wade, 1992, ISBN 0962393487
• Confessions: New and Selected Stories, John Wade, 1998, ISBN 1882425103

Biographies

• The Cornish Nightmare (D. H. Lawrence in Cornwall), Whitston Pub. Co., 1988, ISBN 0878753486
• Lawrence at Tregerthen (D. H. Lawrence), Whitston Pub. Co., 1988, ISBN 0878753486
• Storyteller: A Life of Erskine Caldwell, John Wade, 2000, ISBN 1882425111
• The Miracle of Bryan Pearce, John Wade, 2004, ISBN 1882425200

Other non-fiction

• The Next Bend in the River: Gold Mining in Maine, John Wade, 1989, ISBN 0962393401
• One Day with a Goat Herd, J. Wade, 1992, ISBN 0962393460
• Maine Mining Adventures, John Wade, 1994, ISBN 1882425030
• The Buried Treasures of Maine, J. Wade, 1997, ISBN 188242509X
• The Supernatural Side of Maine, John Wade Pub, 2002, ISBN 1882425162
• Memoirs of a Maine Gold Hunter, John Wade, 2005, ISBN 1882425227

References

1. ^ "Thrill of Gold Mining is in the Hunt, says Author", Sun-Journal, June 4, 1990, accessed July 9, 2010
2. "C.J. Stevens'`Buried Treasures'; Mines Fertile Fields in Maine". Portland Press Herald. February 15, 1998. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
3. "C.J. Stevens' New Book on Nearly Two Centuries of Maine Mining a Real Gem". Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel. September 25, 1994. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
4. "Nugget of truth in 'them thar Maine hills'; Persistence can pay off when panning for golf in the Swift River valley". Bangor Daily News. September 2, 1995. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
5. "Farmington, Maine; Bustling retreat nestled in forest". Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN). December 22, 1996. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
6. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UTkpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=F2UFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1503,5282649&dq=cj-stevens&hl=en
7. "Of Treasure & Trash". The New York Sun. July 14, 2006. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
8. Dana Wilde (January 20, 2003). "Weird facts of Maine cataloged". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
9. "Retired Professor Pans for Gold in Maine", Sun-Journal, October 21, 2989
10. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=54cgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LmUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4995,6486265&dq=cj-stevens&hl=en
11. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Gd0gAAAAIBAJ&sjid=B2sFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1412,1491711&dq=cj-stevens&hl=en

External links

• Publisher

• 1927 births
• American poets
• Living people
• Writers from Maine
• American short story writers
• American non-fiction writers
• American biographers
• Writers from South Carolina