Burns, Vincent Godfrey, 1893-

Vincent Godfrey Burns, born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1893, was Poet Laureate of Maryland from 1962 until his death in 1979. He was ordained as a minister and later published poems, television scripts, plays, and a novel, often expressing his conservative political and religious convictions. He and his brother Robert collaborated on I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang, which was made into a movie in 1932. Burns's papers include correspondence, poems, manuscripts, galleys, newspaper clippings, and essays documenting his literary production and political concerns.

Vincent Godfrey Burns (1893- ), poet laureate of Maryland, author, editor, and lecturer.

Vincent Godfrey Burns (1893-1979) was a Congregationalist minister and Poet Laureate of Maryland.

Poet, playwright, author and lecturer.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Poet, author, lecturer. Vincent Godfrey Burns (1893-1979) served as Poet Laureate of Maryland from 1962 until his death in 1979.

Poet laureate of Maryland.

Vincent Godfrey Burns (1893-1979) was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was educated at Pennsylvania State College, Harvard University, Union Theological Seminary, and Columbia University. He enlisted in the U.S. Army, 1918, and served on the staff of General Foote, 163rd F.A. Brigade, First Army Corps A.E.F. in France. He was a poet, Congregationalist minister, journalist, literary editor, public speaker, and screenwriter. In 1962 he was appointed Poet Laureate of Maryland.

Minister and author; d. 1979.

Poet, author, lecturer.

Vincent Godfrey Burns has served as Poet Laureate of Maryland since 1962.

Vincent Godfrey Burns (1893-1979) was born in Brooklyn, New York, and educated at Pennsylvania State College (B.S., 1916), Harvard University (A.M., 1917), Union Theological Seminary (B.D., 1922), and Columbia University (post-graduate study, 1922-1925). He enlisted in the U.S. Army, 1918, and served on the staff of General Foote, 163rd F.A. Brigade, First Army Corps A.E.F. in France. He was a poet, Congregationalist minister, journalist, literary editor, public speaker, and screenwriter. In 1962 he was appointed Poet Laureate of Maryland.

Further biographical information may be found in the guides to the Burns collections at the Maryland Historical Society and the University of Maryland Libraries.

Vincent Godfrey Burns was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1893. He served in the Field Artillery in World War I. Ordained as a Congregational minister, he worked at churches in New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C., and gained brief fame in 1935 during the Lindbergh kidnapping trial when he shouted, "If it please your honor, I have a confession that was made to me by the man who committed this crime" in the courtroom (and not the popular misconception: "This man is innocent!"). He published his account of the Lindbergh case, New Light on the Lindbergh Kidnapping (New World Books), in 1973.

In collaboration with his older brother, Robert Burns, he wrote I Am a Fugitive From a Georgia Chain Gang (Vanguard, 1932) detailing his brother's experiences as a convict in the Georgia penal system and his subsequent escape. It was made into a movie by Warner Brothers later that year. The film was nominated for several Academy Awards and was credited with helping to abolish chain gangs in Georgia. Vincent Burns wrote a sequel, Out of These Chains (New World Books, 1942), and continued the story of his brother's prison-reform legacy in The Man Who Broke a Thousand Chains (Acropolis Books, 1963).

Burns's writing often expressed his conservative political and religious convictions. He published collections of his poetry, as well as essays, plays, anthologies, and novels, including The Master's Message for the New Day (Association Press, 1926), The Red Harvest, a Cry for Peace (Macmillan, 1930), I'm in Love with Life (Dutton, 1932), America I Love You (New World Books, 1957), Flame Against the Night (New World Books, 1959), An American Poet Speaks (New World Books, 1960), Memories and Melodies of Maryland (New World Books, 1964), Maryland's Revolutionary Hero (New World Books, 1965), The Four Tests of a Loyal American (Patriotic Women's Clubs of America, 1966), Ballads of the Free State Bard (New World Books, 1967), Heart on Fire (New World Books, 1969), World on Fire (New World Books, 1969), Red Fuse on a World Bomb (New World Books, 1969), The Sunny Side of Life (New World Books, 1970), Poetry is Fun (New World Books, 1971), and The Story of Old Glory (New World Books, 1972). His bestselling work, Female Convict (Macauley, 1932; Pyramid, 1959), sold more than a million copies in paperback. He was designated Poet Laureate of Maryland in 1962 by Governor J. Millard Tawes. Despite a controversial tenure and attempts to unseat him, he remained Poet Laureate until his death in 1979.