Carol Bly (April 16, 1930 – December 21, 2007) was an American teacher and an
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
of
short stories
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
,
essay
An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...
s, and nonfiction works on writing. Her work often featured Minnesota women who must identify the moral crisis that is facing their community or themselves and enact change through empathy, or opening one's eyes to the realities of the situation.
Early years
Childhood
Carolyn McLean was the youngest child and only daughter of Mildred (née Washburn) and Charles Russell McLean of
Duluth, Minnesota
, settlement_type = City
, nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City
, motto =
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...
. She was raised in Duluth and
Tryon, North Carolina
Tryon is a town in Polk County, on the southwestern border of North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,646. Located in the escarpment of the Blue Ridge Mountains, today the area is affluent and a center f ...
, where she was sent to live with one of her father's sisters because her mother suffered from
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
and was often away from the family being treated in sanitariums.
McLean's mother died in 1942, at a time when two of her older brothers were fighting in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. As a young teen, she worried for the safety of her family and often had nightmares about the
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
. She never lost her preoccupation with the damage that evil people could do.
Education
After graduating from the
Abbot Academy
Abbot Academy (also known as Abbot Female Seminary and AA) was an University-preparatory school, independent boarding preparatory school for women boarding and day students in grades 9–12 from 1828 to 1973. Located in Andover, Massachusetts, Abb ...
boarding school, McLean received her
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in English and history from
Wellesley College
Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...
in 1951 and spent several years working in New York and Boston
before undertaking graduate-level work at the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
in 1954 and 1955.
Family
While at Wellesley, McLean met
Robert Elwood Bly on a blind date. She was Episcopalian; he was Lutheran. They married in 1955 and moved to Robert Bly's family farm near the small town of
Madison, Minnesota
Madison is a city in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, United States, along the 45th parallel north, 45th parallel. The population was 1,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of ...
. At the time, the farm had no running water.
The family lived a relatively simple life, and as she once told a disbelieving census taker, instead of owning a television they entertained themselves with their more than 5,000 books.
Their house was usually filled with visiting poets, including
Donald Hall
Donald Andrew Hall Jr. (September 20, 1928 – June 23, 2018) was an American poet, writer, editor and literary critic. He was the author of over 50 books across several genres from children's literature, biography, memoir, essays, and includin ...
,
James Wright, and
Bill Holm, all of whom were asked to do their share of chores before Bly would feed them.
The couple had four children, Micah,
[
] Bridget, Noah, and
Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
, who is an English professor at
Fordham University
Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...
and a best-selling romance novelist under the pseudonym Eloisa James. Carol and Robert Bly divorced in 1979.
Career
While her children were small, Bly worked on the farm when necessary and found time to manage the literary journals published by her husband and William Duffy,
''Fifties'' and ''Sixties'', as well as managing their business, the Sixties and the Seventies Press.
At the beginning of the next decade, Bly was asked to write a monthly column, "A Letter from the Country" for the
Minnesota Public Radio
Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), is a public radio network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, News & Information, YourClassical MPR and The Current, MPR operates a 46-station regional radio network in the upper Midwest.
MPR ha ...
Magazine. Writing these short essays about rural life taught her how to think and to express herself well in a relatively small number of pages. The essays were later compiled into the book ''Letters From the Country'', published in 1981. Three of her stories were also combined into the movie ''Rachel River'', which starred
Craig T. Nelson
Craig Theodore Nelson (born April 4, 1944) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Hayden Fox in the sitcom ''Coach'' (for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series), Deputy Ward Wilson in the 19 ...
.
Works
Bly's short stories are known for their realistic characters and situations, which are fully developed within the small number of pages the story allows.
Although many of her stories are set in Minnesota, the people and the situations transcend local boundaries, emphasizing pride in one's work, resourcefulness, the ability to laugh at one's self, and the ability "to hold values beyond one's own immediate welfare."
Perhaps inspired by Robert Bly's co-founding of
American Writers Against the Vietnam War
American Writers Against the Vietnam War was an umbrella organization created in 1965 by American poets Robert Bly and David Ray. The group organized readings, meetings and joined in rallies, teach-ins, and demonstrations against the Vietnam War, ...
in 1966, Bly used her literature to reflect modern-day concerns.
Her work is in many ways an ethical treatise, often featuring a "bully", embodied by either a person or a corporation, who takes pleasure in forcing his will on another person or group of people. Some of her stories also explore evil, which, to her, is seen in people or organizations which find enjoyment in enslaving, humiliating, or crushing their opponents. The stories emphasize redemption through empathy, which, to Bly, is the step of deliberately looking at how one's actions impact others.
Bly always called herself a C.S. Lewis person; she dutifully read Bonhoeffer, but found him dull.
A typical Bly protagonist is a conventional woman who has been content to live in "ignorant complacency," but, through her own strength and intelligence must first identify the moral crisis facing either her or her community and then work to accomplish change. In her best works, the moral center is hard to find, as each character has some claim to the reader's sympathies.
Teaching
To reach a broader audience, Bly wrote several books to assist others in learning to write well. Rather than concentrate on the technical basics of writing a story, these books provide tips for writing a story that is "morally, politically, and emotionally deep."
Her books are somewhat controversial, as they encourage students to use "the sort of 'empathetic questioning' therapists and social workers use" in order to find their strongest feelings and amplify their ideas.
These principles were demonstrated during the four creative writing workshops that Bly taught each spring in
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...
as well as in the talks and readings she gave.
The workshops were of limited size, usually including only eight students, with Bly lecturing as well as providing individual advice and criticism of the student's works.
Recognition
Bly was awarded the 2001 Minnesota Humanities Award for Literature. She had previously been named the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
Edelstein-Keller Distinguished Minnesota Author (1998–1999) and the Minnesota Women's Press Favorite Woman Author (2000).
Bly was a member of the Board of Directors for
The Loft Literary Center
The Loft Literary Center is a non-profit literary organization located in Minneapolis, Minnesota incorporated in 1975. The Loft is a large and comprehensive independent literary center, and offers a variety of writing classes, conferences, grants ...
from 1991 to 1994, and the board of Episcopal Community Services in 1978–1979. Bly was also a member of the Minnesota Book and Literary Arts Building Authors' Advisory Group in 1999. She has designed workshops for Women Against Military Madness, National Association of Social Workers, and the Midwest Institute of School Social Workers, and was a consultant to the Land Stewardship Project from 1983 to 1992.
Later years and death
Following her 1979 divorce, Bly moved to
Sturgeon Lake, Minnesota
Sturgeon Lake is a city in Pine County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 439 at the 2010 census.
Interstate 35, County Road 46, and County 61 (Main Street) are three of the main routes in the community.
Geography
According to the ...
; in 1986, she bought a house in St. Paul. In 2003, Bly donated to the University of Minnesota her correspondence, notes from writing workshops and classes she taught, and drafts of her works. The eighty-nine boxes included papers written when she was a child as well as later work.
Also in 2003, Bly and a friend, Cynthia Loveland, opened Bly and Loveland Press, a small publishing company which has so far published four books that they have written together.
Their press also sold custom crossword puzzles, which Bly designed.
She continued to work until the end of her life, completing a novel, ''Shelter Half'', which was published posthumously in June 2008 by Holy Cow! Press.
Bly died of
ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different c ...
on December 21, 2007, aged 77, in
Oakdale, Minnesota
Oakdale is a city in Washington County, Minnesota, United States. It is a suburb of Saint Paul and is on the eastern side of the Twin Cities Metropolitan area. The population was 27,378 at the 2010 census. Oakdale is the 32nd largest city in M ...
.
Carol Bly, Minnesota's lioness of letters, dies
/ref>
Selected bibliography
Fiction
*''Backbone: Short Stories''
*''The Tender Organizations''
*''The Tomcat's Wife and Other Stories''
*''My Lord Bag of Rice: New and Selected Stories'' (2000)
*''Shelter Half'' (Holy Cow! Press, 2008)
Essays
*''Letters from the Country'' (1981, reissued 1999)
*''An Adolescent's Christmas: 1944'' (1999)
*''Bad Government and Silly Literature: An Essay''
*''Soil and Survival: Land Stewardship and the Future of American Agriculture''
*''Changing the Bully Who Rules the World'' (1996)
*''There once was a man from Nantucket'', (1950)
Books on writing
*''Beyond the Writer's Workshop: New Ways to Write Creative Nonfiction'' (2000)
*''The Passionate, Accurate Story'' (1990, reissued 1997)
With Cynthia Loveland
*''Three Readings for Republicans and Democrats''
*''Stopping the Gallop to Empire''
*''A Shout to American Clergy''
*''Against Workshopping Manuscripts''
Awards and recognition
*2001 - Minnesota Humanities Award for Literature
*2000 - Minnesota Women's Press Favorite Woman Author
*1998-1999 Edelstein-Keller Author of Distinction, University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
*1994 - Friend of School Social Work, Minnesota School Social Workers' Association
*1992 - Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Northland College
*1991 - Friend of American Writers Award
*1991 - Bush Foundation Artists Fellowship
*1990 - Minnesota State Annual Book Award, for essays
*1990 - Minnesota State Arts Board Individual Artist Grant
*1985 - South Dakota Council of Teachers of English Certificate of Honor
*Seabury-Western Theological Seminary Distinguished Christian Service Award
*Ramsey County Women's Political Caucus Founding Feminist
*Minnesota Women's Consortium Distinguished Minnesota Leader Award
References
External links
Carol Bly Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bly, Carol
1930 births
2007 deaths
American essayists
American short story writers
Deaths from ovarian cancer
Writers from Duluth, Minnesota
Writers from Saint Paul, Minnesota
Novelists from Minnesota
Wellesley College alumni
University of Minnesota alumni
People from Madison, Minnesota
20th-century essayists
21st-century American novelists
American women novelists
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women writers
American women essayists
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
Abbot Academy alumni