Brewer, Kenneth, 1941-2006

Kenneth Wayne Brewer (1941-2006) was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He received his Ph.D. in English from the University of Utah. A professional writer and poet, he was named Utah Poet Laureate in January, 2003. He was a professor of English and poetry at Utah State University, from which he retired in 2000. He passed away at his home on March 15, 2006.

Kenneth Wayne Brewer was born on November 28, 1941, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Shortly after his birth, his father, Ulyss Brewer, was called up for World War II, where he served most of his time fighting in the Philippines. After his father's deployment, Brewer and his mother, Edna Juanita Virt Brewer, moved in with his maternal grandmother, Mary Belle Virt. After returning from the War in 1945, his father aspired to be a boxer, but due to an injury, he drove freight trucks in Indianapolis instead. Eventually his father became an office manager for A & H Trucking Co. His mother worked as a typist for the same firm. Because of his parents' schedules, Kenneth Brewer was largely raised by his grandmother. Brewer attended Butler University for a year in 1959, before transferring to New Mexico Western College (now Western New Mexico University) in Silver City, New Mexico. He played football until his leg was injured. Brewer graduated in 1965 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Secondary teaching. In 1967, he graduated with a Master of Arts from New Mexico State University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Utah in 1973. Dr. Brewer began teaching poetry at Utah State University in 1968. During his career at Utah State University, he wrote and published poetry extensively, and eventually gained national attention. He retired in the spring of 2000, after 32 years of teaching. He was named the Utah Poet Laureate in January 2003. Dr. Brewer died March 15, 2006.

Kenneth Wayne Brewer was born on November 28, 1941, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Shortly after his birth, his father, Ulyss Brewer, deployed for World War II where he served most of his time fighting in the Philippines. Brewer would not see his father again until 1945. After his father's deployment, Brewer and his mother, Edna Juanita Virt Brewer, moved in with his maternal grandmother, Mary Belle Virt.

His father returned from the War in 1945. He had aspired to be a boxer, but an injury prevented this and he began driving freight trucks in Indianapolis. Eventually he became an office manager for A & H Trucking Co. His mother worked as a typist for the same firm and his grandmother was a gift wrapper for a department store in Indianapolis. Because of his parents’ schedules, Brewer was largely raised by his grandmother. He entered PS 62 at age five and eventually graduated from Thomas Howe High School where he earned mostly B's and C's and participated in football and the ROTC. He also held a job at a local string factory during his senior year.

In 1959 he entered Butler University where he had an active social life. His original goal was to become a football coach. After a year, he transferred with a friend to New Mexico Western College in Silver City, New Mexico. He majored in English and became, due to the encouragement of some of his teachers, very interested in writing poetry. During his time at the college he suffered a severe leg injury in a football game that ended his football career. He graduated in 1965 from the recently renamed Western New Mexico University with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Secondary teaching. He was the first person in his family to graduate from college.

He entered the Master of Arts program at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico that year. It was there that he met Keith Wilson who became his mentor and friend for many years and with whom he continued to correspond. While he never had a class from Dr. Wilson, it was as a result of Dr. Wilson's encouragement that Brewer decided to try to become to be a full-time writer. Under Wilson's tutelage, Brewer published his first poem, called “Pastel.” He graduated with his MA in 1967. During this time he was a graduate assistant at the university. After graduation he taught English at a high school in Las Cruces and was a part-owner with friend Mark Medoff of a cantina called Billy the Kid's Comedy Cantina. He also married his first wife, Carol Ann Hayton on August 22, 1964. They had two children, Kimberly Diane (Marsing) born February 10, 1966, and Jonathan Keith born September 9, 1969.

He was offered a position at Utah State University and joined the faculty in 1968. While teaching on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Brewer sought his PhD at the University of Utah. He graduated with a Ph.D. in 1973 after writing his first poetry compilation, “Catching Light,” under his major professor, Franklin Fisher.

Dr. Brewer continued teaching poetry and poetry compilation throughout the 1970s while also writing poetry and publishing extensively. During this time he developed many friendships within the Utah writing community and beyond, while continuing his correspondence with friends and poets around the country. He eventually gained national attentional and was included in national anthologies and listings of prominent American poets. In 1977, he and his first wife, Carol, divorced, and the following year on September 22, 1978, he married Roberta (Bobbie) Stearman who also was a professor of English at Utah State University. From 1977 to 1982, Dr. Brewer published four volumes of poetry and increased his participation in the writing community. During the 1980s, he participated in theater troupes such as the Valley Players, and in many writing conferences and arts groups. During this same period Dr. Brewer wrote and published a great deal of poetry including one book in 1994. Also during this period, he won many awards for his research and writing, both within the USU community and beyond. He also worked on the Utah centennial poetry anthology in 1996. In the spring of 2000, Dr. Brewer retired after 32 years of teaching in order to devote more time to his writing and to promoting the Utah writing community.

Dr. Brewer was named the Utah Poet Laureate in January of 2003, succeeding his longtime friend, David Lee. His plan was to use this position to promote one of his passions: poetry readings. He wanted to record Utah poets reading and interpreting their poetry. Dr. Brewer himself participated in literally hundreds of poetry readings around the country and published hundreds of poems and nine volumes of poetry, in addition to several compilations in conjunction with other Western poets and artists.

Dr. Brewer died at his home in Providence on March 15, 2006 following a very public nine-month battle with pancreatic cancer. This period was marked by a prodigious output in which Dr. Brewer wrote hundreds of poems, many of them dealing with themes of life and death. Shortly before he died, Dr. Brewer received a lifetime achievement award from the Utah Humanities Council. His very open struggle with cancer received extensive media coverage, including a December 18, 2005 profile on the CBS Evening News.