Yesterday was Wallace Stegner's centennial, 18 February 2009. There have been events and celebrations all over the West, where Stegner's footprints are to be found. Timothy Egan wrote a touching opinion piece in the online version of the NYT. The comments on Egan's column are mostly a loving, reverent homage to a great writer and good human. There were a few of the usual acrimonious remarks referencing the plagiarism issue surrounding Angle of Repose and “Why I Can’t Read Wallace Stegner and Other Essays: A Tribal Voice,” by Elizabeth Cook-Lynn. Both of these views bear paying attention to and then moving on. Of interest is the sheer number of people lauding both his fiction and non-fiction and his influence in environmental legislation. Be sure to read One Way to Spell Man and One Nation; Beyond the Hundredth Meridian, Wolf Willow, and Mormon Country.
