James Stevens (1892 – December 31, 1971) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

writer and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. Born in Albia, Iowa,University of Washington, James Stevens Collection
/ref> he lived in Idaho from a young age, and based much of his later novel ''Big Jim Turner'' (1948) on his childhood spent in Pacific Northwest logging camps. After fighting in World War I, he came back to work in the woods and sawmills of Oregon. Stevens "...characterized himself as 'a hobo laborer with wishful literary yearning,' and became self-educated at public libraries, which he called 'the poor man's universities.James Steven's biography by Stewart Hendrickson, stolaf.edu
He later traveled through the West and

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

, and lived in Detroit,

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, and Seattle. He researched logging history and wrote about the logging industry and about conservation. In the 1940s, as the public relations director for the Western Lumberman's Association, he promoted the "Keep Washington Green" campaign against forest fires. Among his

literary Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...

works were '' Paul Bunyan'' (1925), ''Brawny Man'' (1926), '' Mattock'' (1927), ''Homer in the Sagebrush'' (1928), ''The Saginaw Paul Bunyan'' (1932), ''Paul Bunyan Bears'' (1947), and ''Tree Treasure'' (1950). He collaborated with

H. L. Davis Harold Lenoir Davis (October 18, 1894 – October 31, 1960), also known as H. L. Davis, was an American novelist and poet. A native of Oregon, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel '' Honey in the Horn'', the only Pulitzer Prize for Lite ...

. His song "The Frozen Logger" was recorded by The Weavers on ''Goodnight Irene'' (1951), Odetta/

Odetta & Larry Odetta & Larry was a short-lived blues-folk duo in the mid-1950s. It consisted of Odetta and Lawrence B. Mohr, the former of whom became the more well known in ensuing decades. Background Odetta Holmes and Lawrence B. Mohr met at a bar called ...

on ''

The Tin Angel ''The Tin Angel'' is Odetta & Larry's only album, and the first recording by Odetta, originally released in September 1954 on Fantasy Records. Background * The album is a collection of recordings of Odetta and Larry Mohr from 1953–54; it wa ...

'' (1954), Cisco Houston on ''Hard Travelin (1954),

Walt Robertson Walt Robertson (12 November 1925 – 5 September 2014) was a Canadian rower. He competed in the men's eight event at the 1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London ...

on ''American Northwest Ballads'' (1955),

Jimmie Rodgers James Charles Rodgers (September 8, 1897 – May 26, 1933) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as "the Father of Country Music", he is best known for his distinctive rhythmi ...

on ''At Home with Jimmie Rodgers: An Evening of Folk Songs'' (1960), and by many others, including Oscar Brand and

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

. The song was sung (although never recorded) by

Bob Weir Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead ...

of The Grateful Dead during some of their concerts.

Archives

References

Further reading