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Stanley Miller Williams’ college entrance exams “revealed he had no verbal aptitude,” he said; Williams decided that “if I didn’t want to embarrass my parents, I should go into the hard sciences.” With a degree in biology and master’s in zoology, both from AR universities, he became a science teacher who dabbled in poetry.
Fast-forward 50 years (and 37 published books of poetry and prose): Williams became the country’s third inaugural poet, reading a poem at President Bill Clinton’s second inauguration. He also mentored former President Jimmy Carter, publishing two books of Carter’s poems through the University of Arkansas Press.
– Eve Lederman, The 100 Companies