Miller Williams

Williams was chosen to read a poem at the second inauguration of Bill Clinton. One of his best-known poems is "The Shrinking Lonesome Sestina." He was the father of American singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams.

Miller Williams studied at Hendrix College, University of Arkansas and Arkansas State University. The recorded working language is English. Employment is recorded with University of Arkansas, Louisiana State University and Loyola University New Orleans. Distinctions recorded are Rome Prize and National Arts Awards.

• Name — Miller Williams • Birth Name — Stanley Miller Williams • Born — 8 April 1930 • Birthplace — Hoxie, Arkansas, U.S. • Died — 2015 • Place of death — Fayetteville, Arkansas, U.S. • Occupation — * Poet • translator • publisher • Children — 3 (including Lucinda) • Spouse — Lucille Day (m.1951–mid 1960s) Rebecca Jordan Hall (m.1969)

Williams was born in Hoxie, Arkansas, to Ernest Burdette and Ann Jeanette Miller Williams. He was educated in Arkansas, first enrolling at Hendrix College in Conway and eventually transferring to Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, where he published his first collection of poems, Et Cetera, while getting his bachelor's degree in biology. He went on to get a masters in zoology at the University of Arkansas in 1952.

He taught in several universities in various capacities, first as a professor of biology and then of English literature, and in 1970 returned to the University of Arkansas as a member of the English Department and the creative writing program. In 1980 he helped found the University of Arkansas Press, where he served as director for nearly 20 years. At the time of his death, he was a professor emeritus of literature at the University of Arkansas.

Miller received the 1963–64 Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship, and he won the 1991 Poets' Prize for his collection Living on the Surface. In 1997, President Bill Clinton selected Williams to read his poem "Of History and Hope" at Clinton's second inauguration, instantly bringing Williams to national attention. In addition, President Clinton presented Williams with the National Arts Award for his lifelong contribution to the arts.

Miller had spina bifida. He died on January 1, 2015, of Alzheimer's disease. In February, 2016, his daughter Lucinda Williams released a song entitled "If My Love Could Kill," as a testament to her father's suffering from this disability. Williams lived in Fayetteville with his second wife, Jordan, who had been his student. Williams and his first wife, Lucille Fern Day, had three children together: Lucinda Williams, a three-time Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter, another daughter, Karyn, who graduated from the School of Nursing at the University of Arkansas, and a son, Robert. Williams also had three grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.