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MAN
Chris Chung/The Idaho Statesman
Tom Trusky, director of The Idaho Center for the Book, has examined thousands of books donated to the center by Vardis Fisher.
Collection overwhelms beneficiaries
It has taken nearly two years to go through the estate
of Vardis Fisher and Opal Laurel Holmes.
By Tim Woodward
The Idaho Statesman
When the reclusive widow of author
Vardis Fisher died alone at her forbid-
ding home in the Boise Front, no one
knew the extent of the literary fortune
hidden inside.
The result --- papers and books from
a man credited with the first signifi-
cant fiction from the Rocky Mountain
region — has overwhelmed and de-
lighted its recipients.
Investigators found Opal Laurel
Holmes' body on July 30, 1994, in a
basement room of a dilapidated home
obscured by overgrown trees and
shrubs. Drawn drapes and "keep out"
signs discouraged visitors. Rooms
were strewn with unopened mail and
uncashed checks. Trails wound
through towering stacks of books.
Holmes, 80, rarely left her cluttered
refuge, where she survived in part on
royalties from a Robert Redford movie
based on one of her husband's books.
It has taken nearly two years to
examine her effects and settle her es-
tate, with Boise State University, Yale
University and Albertson College of
Idaho emerging this month as the pri-
mary literary beneficiaries.
Yale will get Fisher's papers, includ-
ing personal and business correspon-
dence and two unpublished
manuscripts.
"One of them has some appeal,"
Grant Fisher, the late author's son,
said Thursday. "I think it might do
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quite well if it were published."'
Its title is "A Whore and Sev-
en Men."
Albertson College and The
Idaho Center for the Book at
BSU are the recipients of Fish-
er's published books and part of
his enormous book collection.
BSU also received some books
through a special arrangement
with the University of Idaho.
Fisher's books join a partial
collection of his papers previ-
ously given to BSU, which also
is the repository for the papers
of former Gov. Cecil D. Andrus
and Sens. Frank Church and
Len Jordan. Its Idaho Writers
Archives contains papers and
memorabilia of writers from Ted
Trueblood to Ernest Hem-
ingway.
Center for the Book Director
Tom Trusky has spent much of
the past week examining the
Fisher windfall, a daunting
task.
s'I'm exhausted," he said.
"`There were at least 250 cases of
books, in addition to 75 boxes
from previous shipments. We
had a huge truck that was just
overflowing."
Albertson College received a
similar quantity.
,At an average of 35 books per
case, BSU's collection would
number more than 11,000 vol-
umes. By latest count, they in-
cluded 28 of Fisher's 36 published
titles. Twenty-one of the 28 are
long out of print and highly val-
ued by collectors. Each school
also received a first -edition set of
all of Fisher's works.
Born in a cottonwood shack in
eastern Idaho in 1895, Fisher rose
from poverty to earn degrees from
the University of Chicago and
become Idaho's leading literary
figure.
A New York Times reviewer
ranked his "Dark Bridwell," a
n
Boie State University is
considering issuing a cata-
log of books from the new
Vardis Fisher collection.
Meanwhile, information
about the books is available
and orders may be placed by
calling the BSU Bookstore at
385-4031. Outside Idaho, call
1-800-992-TEXT.
1933 novel set in Idaho, among
the 10 best American novels ever
written.
Fisher, who died in 1968, also
wrote an acerbic weekly column
appearing in a number of Idaho
newspapers. It was the source of
his nickname, "Old Irascible."
For the reading public, the
Holmes -Fisher estate provides
long -denied access to Fisher's
work.
The eccentric Holmes inherited
her husband's copyrights and re-
printed some of his books, but
literally sat on them in her home,
rarely parting with volumes regu-
larly requested by distributors
and dealers. The difficult -to -find
books commanded prices of up to
$350 in the rare -book market.
"They were really hard to get,"
said Nancy Oakes of the Book
Shop, 906 W. Main St. "Other
than the few that had been re-
printed elsewhere, Opal was
about the only source. People
were always asking for them, so
Jean (the store's longtime owner)
would talk to Opal. She'd promise
to bring them down, but then
we'd never see them."
Both BSU and Albertson Col-
lege will offer books to the public.
At BSU, the Idaho Writers Ar-
chives will have first priority on
those not currently in its collec-
tion, including the first editions.
Others will be sold at fair -market
prices, providing relief to those
long frustrated in their efforts to
acquire Fisher's works.
The books will go on the mar-
ket immediately, through the In-
ternet, the BSU Bookstore and
periodicals.
"We hope to put out a catalog
and eventually have a Fisher dis-
play," Trusky said. "Some of the
books are very beautiful and
would display exceptionally
well."
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Tim Woodward
Death could
help revive
Fisher name
The strange death of Opal
Laurel Holmes was more than
the demise of, as one of her
neighbors put it, "a hermit
married to a famous author
and living off the royalties to
a Robert Redford movie."
It was the end of a unique
chapter in Idaho history and,
with foresight and coopera-
tion, it could mean a new be-
ginning for an Idaho legend.
Holmes, whose body was
discovered July 30 at her Boi-
se home, was the third and
last wife of the late Idaho
novelist Vardis Fisher.
Unequaled
Without belittling those who
carry on the tradition, it is
only stating the facts to say
that no other Idaho writer has
come close to achieving what
Fisher did. (Hemingway wasn't
really an Idaho writer; his time
in the state totaled about two
years.)
When Fisher died, he was
working on his 37th and 38th
books. His early novels, set in
eastern Idaho, were ac-
claimed in publications from
the New Yorker to the Lon-
don Times. A critic writing
for the New York Times
called his second book one of
the 10 best American novels
ever written. Like Wallace
Stegner after him (Stegner
was a student of Fisher's), he
was known as the dean of
Western novelists.
For many writers, that
would have been enough. For
Fisher, it was a good begin-
ning. Armed with a doctorate
degree from the University of
Chicago and a professorship
at New York University,
where he was a friend of
Thomas Wolfe, he set about
writing historical novels that
established him as one of the
nation's best in that genre.
Then it was the "Testament
of Man," a 12-book series
ranked among the most ex-
haustive undertakings in
American literature. Add to
that a psychological novel,
investigative literature, poet-
ry, essays, newspaper col-
umns ... ordinary writers
contemplating Fisher's out-
put are moved to take long
naps.
His relationship with
Holmes was in turns as
tender and tempestuous as
his writing. They met after
she ended a relationship with
a man who recited poetry to
her. She thought she was in
love with the man, but came
to realize she was in love with
the poetry. The poems were
Fisher's.
Their marriage wasn't all
poetry. In a state filled with
colorful characters, the Fish-
ers were about as colorful as
couples get. It wasn't for
nothing that Fisher was
known as "Old Irascible."
Holmes, in her later years,
was known as a hermit, living
a reclusive life in the Boise
home where she died, sur-
rounded by mountains of
books and literary papers.
She was a kind, good-heart-
ed woman, but a calamity as a
publisher and promoter of her
late husband's books. Many
were allowed to go or stay out
of print. Others were reprint-
ed but never distributed. Of-
fers from other publishers
were rejected or ignored. At-
tempts to collect Fisher's pa-
pers, display his work and re-
store their home at
Hagerman as a memorial ran
afoul of well-intentioned but
fatal objections.
Ideas wanted
Now, the immediate ques-
tion is what will become of
the Fisher materials that
were in her house. A bonanza
for any university library.
Family members are amena-
ble to keeping them in Idaho.
They also are interested in
any proposals to preserve (re-
store?) Fisher's legacy. Read-
ers can send them here; I'll
send them to the family.
The address: P.O. Box 40,
Boise, ID 83707.
Or call the number below.
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