Poet. Edsel Ford (who coincidentally shared the same name as Henry Ford's son, but is of no relation) was born on a cotton farm near Eva, Alabama. His family moved to a chicken farm in Avoca, Arkansas when he was 9. Working on his family's farm provided him with the principle inspirations for his poems: the seasons, fertile land, and nature. His poems first began appearing in magazines while he was a student at Rogers High School. In 1952, he earned a degree in journalism from the U of A and then was drafted into the Army. While serving in Germany, his poems were published in The Stars & Stripes. A prolific writer, his poems appeared in the Saturday Review, New York Times, New York Herald Tribune, New Yorker, Ladies Home Journal, McCall's, and the Christian Science Monitor. Edsel also had an interest in crafts and was a contributor & booster of the War Eagle Arts & Crafts festival. It was there that he shared a booth with longtime friend Hank Spruce. Ford and Spruce would sell paper on which Ford would write verse and then Spruce would do an illustration. Ford lived with Spruce in Fort Smith from 1962 until Ford's death from a brain tumor in 1970.
Poet. Edsel Ford (who coincidentally shared the same name as Henry Ford's son, but is of no relation) was born on a cotton farm near Eva, Alabama. His family moved to a chicken farm in Avoca, Arkansas when he was 9. Working on his family's farm provided him with the principle inspirations for his poems: the seasons, fertile land, and nature. His poems first began appearing in magazines while he was a student at Rogers High School. In 1952, he earned a degree in journalism from the U of A and then was drafted into the Army. While serving in Germany, his poems were published in The Stars & Stripes. A prolific writer, his poems appeared in the Saturday Review, New York Times, New York Herald Tribune, New Yorker, Ladies Home Journal, McCall's, and the Christian Science Monitor. Edsel also had an interest in crafts and was a contributor & booster of the War Eagle Arts & Crafts festival. It was there that he shared a booth with longtime friend Hank Spruce. Ford and Spruce would sell paper on which Ford would write verse and then Spruce would do an illustration. Ford lived with Spruce in Fort Smith from 1962 until Ford's death from a brain tumor in 1970.
Bio by: Beverly Joe Vaughn
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