Crystalized – Hard Labor and Poetry
Written by Laile Di Silvestro, Historical Archaeologist, MA During National Poetry Month, it is only fitting that we honor one of the poets inspired by Mineral King. William Oliver Everson (1912-1994) was a highly acclaimed poet who received numerous honors and awards, including a 1949 Guggenheim Fellowship. He published thirty-five volumes of poetry, and had the distinction of being shaped by Mineral King while also materially shaping Mineral King. This is his story. It was a gloomy afternoon in Fresno, and the twenty-one year old William Oliver Everson was not alone in being unhappy. On that first day of November in 1933, a Wednesday,