Remembering Randall: A Memoir of Poet, Critic, and Teacher Randall Jarrell

When Randall Jarrell died in 1965, he left a critically acclaimed body of poetry, fiction, and criticism that has earned him a permanent place in the pantheon of American letters. A Library of Congress Poet Laureate and National Book Award winner, he had a formidable intellect and wit that endeared him to--or infuriated--the finest minds of his day.<br /><br />Now, in the nine essays collected in <em>Remembering Randall,</em> his widow, Mary von Schrader Jarrell, offers a distinctive portrait of the esteemed poet-critic as only she could have known him. Capturing the essence of this complex, brilliant man, she writes knowingly about the wellsprings and character of Jarrell's poetry, particularly his last and best book, <em>The Lost World;</em> his courageous endeavor, after suffering from hepatitis, to create the celebrated children's books <em>The Bat-Poet</em> and <em>The Animal Family;</em> his lifelong friendships with fiction writer Peter Taylor and poet Robert "Cal" Lowell; his commitment during the last eight years of his life to completing his translation of Goethe's <em>Faust, Part One;</em> and, finally, their marriage.<br /><br />From their home in North Carolina to Washington, New York, San Francisco, and London, Mary von Schrader Jarrell vividly describes the restless mind and free spirit they shared in their marriage. As she writes, "To be married to Randall was to be encapsulated with him." This engrossing, intimate collection could not serve as a better tribute.