Frank Waters (1902-1995) was a Colorado Springs-born American writer. He is known both for his novels about the American Southwest and for the Frank Waters Foundation, which strives to foster literary and artistic achievement in the Southwest United States. Waters has become known as the "grandfather of Southwestern literature".
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Frank Waters was born on July 25, 1902 in Colorado Springs, Colorado to May Ione Dozier Waters and Frank Jonathon Waters. His father, who was part Cheyenne Indian, was a key influence in Water's interest in the Native American experience. Frank Jonathan Waters exposed his son to Indian culture by taking him to the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico in 1911. This influence was heightened by the fact that his father died on December 20, 1914, when young Frank was twelve years old. In 1916, Waters' first published work, "How It Was Settled," appeared in his grade school literary magazine, Columbia Sayings and Doings[1 ].
Waters continued his education at Columbia College in Colorado Springs. He studied engineering but left school before receiving a degree. Immediately after leaving Columbia, Waters took a job with the Southern California Telephone Company in Los Angeles and the surrounding area. He remained employed by the company until 1935 as an engineer and traffic chief. Between 1925 and 1935, Waters consistently completed novels, beginning with his first, Fever Pitch, in 1927. Beginning in 1936, Waters moved in quick succession from L.A., to Hollywood, then back and forth between Colorado and various places in New Mexico. When World War II broke out, Waters moved to Washington, D.C. to work for the Office of Inter-American Affairs. There, he performed the duties of a propaganda analyst and chief content officer and, although her was released from the army in 1943, he continued to work for the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs.[2]
While living in D.C. in 1944, Waters married Lois Mosely, whom he divorced two years later in 1946. After his divorce, Waters moved to Taos, New Mexico, where he continued to write. In 1947, Waters purchased property at Aroyo Seco and married Jane Somervell, marking his first move towards settling down and calling one place his home since Colorado Springs. He served as editor-in-chief of Taos' bilingual newspaper, El Crepusculo from 1949-1951, and as a reviewer for the Saturday Review of Literature from 1950-1956. In 1953, Waters was awarded the Taos Artists Award for Notable Achievement in the Art of Writing. Waters also held positions as information consultant for Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, New Mexico, and for the City of Las Vegas, Nevada, (1952-1956). He held a variety of other jobs, including writer for C.O. Whitney Motion Picture Co., Los Angeles (1957), writer-in-residence, Colorado State University, Fort Collins (1966); and director, New Mexico Arts Commission, Santa Fe, (1966-68).[1 ] On December 23, 1979, Waters married Barbara Hayes. From the 1930s on, Waters published numerous novels, articles and works of nonfiction. For the rest of his life, he traveled all over the world speaking about his books, the Southwestern American Indian experience, Mayan mysticism and Taoism.[3] Frank Waters died at his home in Arroyo Seco on June 3, 1995.[1 ]
Novels written by Waters include:[4]
Other published works, essays, non-fiction, and esoteric writings by Waters include:[5]
Synopsis: Set in the 1850s in a logging town on the Mississippi River, River Lady is a film about a conflict between the people of a mill town and the lumberjacks who work downriver. A web of romance and deceit is woven by the cast of characters, catalyzed by the arrival of the gambling river boat, River Lady, owned by the beautiful Sequin. Bauvais, a representative of the local lumber syndicate and Sequin's business partner, is trying to convince H.L. Morrison, the mill owner, to sell his business. Morrison refuses, and Sequin eventually buys part of the struggling business in order to provide a reputable job for her lover, Dan Corrigan, a lumberjack. Dan eventually takes the job and he and Sequin become engaged. But, Dan soon finds out that Sequin manipulated Morrison into giving him the job. He gets drunk and marries Stephanie, Morrison's daughter. Soon conflict breaks out between Morrison's business and Sequin's syndicate, instigated by the vengeful Dan. In the following battle, Bauvais is killed and Dan is shot. After the battle, while Dan is healing, Sequin comes to him, asking to get back together, since he and Stephanie are separated. Dan tells her he has actually fallen in love with his wife and wants to stay with her. On her way out of town forever, Sequin tells Stephanie that Dan wants to be with her and the couple are reunited.[6]
Film Notes: According to Daily Variety, Frank Lloyd, a Hollywood producer, purchased the film rights to River Lady in March 1941. The eighty-four page outline by Houston Branch went for $50,000. Frank Waters later novelized the script and it was published under both Branch and Waters' names in 1942. Hollywood Reporter reported later that, in April 1946, Universal had purchased the rights to the novel, with the producers Michael Fessier and Ernest Pagano in mind to head the project. It is unsure if either Fessier and Pagano actually contributed to the final film. Hollywood Reporter also reported that Ann Blyth was originally cast in River Lady, probably as "Stephanie Morrison," Helena Carter's character. Actors Yvonne DeCarlo and Dan Duryea had previously appeared together in the Universal film Black Bart (1948 film), also directed by George Sherman. According to Universal press materials, the river boat used in River Lady was originally built in 1929 for the silent picture Show Boat (1929 film).[7]
According to the Frank Waters Foundation (FWF) website, "the Frank Waters Foundation's primary purpose is to promote an awareness of Waters' works as well as the arts in general by sponsoring educational workshops, and making available inspirational living space, at the Foundation headquarters in Arroyo Seco, New Mexico, in which creative persons can work for limited periods." The Foundation, begun in 1993, is a nonprofit organization the primary goal of which is to promote the arts, specifically those in the spirit of the creativity of Frank Waters. The members of the FWF operate under the motto, "Sheltering the creative spirit," by providing a retreat for artists to live and work among the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The FWF is supported financially by endowments, workshops, lectures, art shows, musical events, fundraisers, grants, and sales of various items including books and bronze sculptures of Frank Waters. His wife Barbara Waters is executive director of the foundation.[1 ]
Some past artists-in-residence[1
] include:
Charles Behlen—Texas, Poet
Barbara “Jamila” Fitzgerald—Africa, Artist
David Jongeward—Canada, Writer
Andrea Lannen—New York, Artist
Kit Lynch—Illinois, Artist
Tom Meyers—Texas, Doctoral Candidate
Hugh Ogden—Connecticut, Poet
Lynn Stenzel—Colorado, Artist
Carrie Fountain—Texas, poet, teacher and theater
Jim Ciletti—Colorado Springs, poet, writer, bookstore Owner
Honors and awards conferred on Waters include:[8]
  | Overview for ''River Lady'' - River Lady (1948) |
| | Frank Waters Foundation website - Frank Waters Foundation ,Southwest writer and author, Frank Waters,Frank Waters chronology, reviews,American author, Taos, New Mexico, Indian history |
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