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Howard Vernon Starks was born December 7, 1929, in Shidler, Oklahoma. He later graduated high school in Fittstown, Oklahoma and served in the U.S, Army before earning a B.A. in education from East Central State College in Ada, Oklahoma. He began a career in education with two years in the Fox and Healdton, Oklahoma public schools before entering the University of Oklahoma graduate school. He was all-but-dissertation on a Ph.D. in English there and taught as a graduate assistant before teaching at The University of Nevada in Reno and then The University of Colorado in Boulder.

In 1968 he came to Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant and remained until his retirement in 1995. It was here that he encountered the majority of those he would so profoundly influence and affect. He taught courses in humanities, mythology, modern poetry, and numerous branches of literature. He was very active in theater and drama at SOSU as a performer, director, costume designer and drama coach, and in 2002 he received the Distinguished Faculty Award from Southeastern State Oklahoma University for his meritorious service and accomplishments. http://alumni.se.edu/?page=awards

Off-campus he attended local elementary schools and read poetry to students. He served on planning boards for the Durant Indian Summer Arts Festival, Durant Community Theater and the Durant Centennial.

After his retirement in 1995 at the prodding of his fellow professors, Blanche Jamison, Dennis and Billie Letts, Elbert and Marion Hill and others he completed work on his first book of Poetry, Italic textFamily Album (A Collection of Poetry)Italic text for Running Board Press. It became a finalist in the 1997 Oklahoma Book Awards, cited for its strong sense of family and place. http://www.odl.state.ok.us/ocb/obaward.htm

The collection contained only fifteen poems, but one poem from the book, "August: Osage County," has achieved both national and international prominence since the phenomenal success of Tracy Letts' play of the same name. Starks taught at Southeastern Oklahoma State University along with Letts' father, Dennis, who originated the role of Beverly in "August: Osage County" and Tracy's mother, novelist Billie Letts. Letts' drama won both the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for best play of 2008. "I could never come up with a title as brilliant as 'August: Osage County.' Mr. Howard Starks, gentleman, teacher, poet, genius, mentor, friend, created that title for an extraordinary poem that is one of the inspirations for my play. I steal the title with deference, yet without apology — Howard, I'm sure, would have it no other way — and I dedicate this play to his memory."http://209.184.242.1/sportsextra/article.aspx?articleID=20080616_278_D1_pncase411218

Starks died April 7, 2003. A tribute to Starks was part of Southeastern’s year-long commemoration of the university's centennial. Poems read came from Starks' book, "Family Album," which was a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award in 1997. Readers included Starks' sister, Bette Posey of Midwest City, and her daughter, Elizabeth Alexander of Phoenix, Arizona; Carol Hamilton, poet laureate of Oklahoma 1995-97 and winner of the 1992 Oklahoma Book Award; Carl Sennhenn, poet laureate of Oklahoma in 2001-03 and winner of the 2007 Oklahoma Book Award; former students Ron Wallace, winner of the 2009 Oklahoma Writer’s Federation Best Book of Poetry and English instructor at Southeastern; Curt Boles, nationally acclaimed Western artist; Charles Ladd, English teacher at Whitesboro, Texas, High School and Southeatern; Jane Brantley-Wallace, former English teacher at Valliant and Boswell, Oklahoma; and Valerie Gee, English teacher at Antlers, Oklahoma; former colleagues Dr. David Cook, nationally acclaimed director of college theater, formerly at SE and presently at Tulsa University; Dr. Elbert Hill, professor emeritus of English at Southeastern; and Marion Moore Hill, successful mystery novelist.http://www.se.edu/news/2009/starks-poetry/