Archives West Finding Aid

Vardis Alvero Fisher

Vardis Alvero Fisher was born March 31, 1895, at Annis, Idaho, of Mormon parents. He received an A.B. degree in English at the University of Utah (1920). He followed this up with graduate work at the University of Chicago where he received an M.A. (1922) and Ph.D. (1925). He subsequently taught at the University of Utah, New York University, and the University of Montana. In 1928 his first novel was published, a forerunner of a long and productive writing career. By 1935 he had retired from teaching to continue his writing. Within a few years, as an impoverished author, he eagerly accepted the position as director of the Idaho Guide project, a part of the depression-based Works Progress Administration. Fisher's directorship produced the first state guide published. It was written almost entirely by Fisher as none of his relief workers were writers. Following his experiences with government relief projects Fisher returned to his own writing, moving to a ranch near Hagerman, Idaho. His writings include a twelve volume series The Testament of Man, the four volume Vridar Hunter tetrology, and a score of other works. He died at his home near Hagerman July 9, 1968, and was survived by his wife Opal.

Inez Puckett McEwen

Among Fisher's correspondents and acquaintances was another Idaho author and journalist, Inez Puckett McEwen. She was born in 1904 in Iowa though raised in the west. At the time of her correspondence with Fisher she was living on a ranch near Kimberly, Idaho, the scene o£ the autobiographical So This is Ranching (1948). She is now living and writing in California.

Ronald Warren Taber

Born in 1942, Ron Taber was a graduate student in the American Studies Program at Washington State University when he first approached Vardis Fisher in 1965 with the idea of basing his dissertation on Fisher's historical novels. Eventually changing his topic to a study of the Federal Writer's Project, Taber continued his contact with Fisher through correspondence and interviews, especially regarding Fisher's role in the project. The title of his dissertation, presented in 1969, was: The Federal Writer's Project in the Pacific Northwest: a case study. In addition Taber wrote Vardis Fisher and the Idaho Guide: Preserving Culture for the New Deal, which appeared in Pacific Northwest Quarterly, v. 59 (April 1968). While these studies were based in part on the material in the present collection, additional material was compiled by Taber in contemplation of a full-length biography of Fisher.