Occupation "Dust Bowl Poet" Resting place Tulare Role Poet | Name Wilma McDaniel Nationality American | |
Born Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel
December 22, 1918
Lincoln County, OK ( 1918-12-22 ) Died April 13, 2007, Tulare, California, United States Books We Live Or Die in Pixley, A Primer for Buford | ||
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Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel (December 22, 1918 – April 13, 2007) was a long-time resident of California's Central Valley. Wilma was one of thousands who emigrated from Oklahoma to California during the Dust Bowl years of the mid-1930s. Named the Tulare poet laureate in the 1970s, McDaniel was dubbed "The Okie Poet" because of her writings about Oklahoma throughout her lifetime.
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McDaniel published more than fifty books of poetry and was the subject of a film documentary by Chris Simon, Down an Old Road: The Poetic Life of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel.
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Biography
Born December 22, 1918, in Lincoln County, Oklahoma, to Benjamin and Anna McDaniel. The fourth born out of eight children, McDaniel attended school at Greenridge and Depew. When Wilma was 17 years old in 1936, her father migrated the family to California in wake of the Great Depression and Dustbowl. Fortunately the McDaniels had family in California that helped to make the transition easier. They were able to secure employment through these family members. Wilma picked grapes at a vineyard for her Uncle Jeremiah Finster. Wilma also worked for a time as a housekeeper and maid. Her father died 10 years after moving to California and Wilma lived with her mother until her death in 1983.
Poetic career
McDaniel’s love affair with poetry began at an early age. At age eight began to write on scraps of paper, envelopes, and grocery bags, storing them away for later publication. In the 1970s - when Wilma was in her 50s - she took some of her poems to the Tulare Advance-Register newspaper editor, Tom Hennion. Seeing her inborn talent, Hennion continued to publish her work in the newspaper which lead to her wider publication later on in life. McDaniel wrote with simple language and harsh imagery and was referred to as the "California Walt Whitman" by Gerald Haslam.