Bayes, Ronald H., 1932-

Bayes was a poet and college teacher. Pound was an American poet.

Poet Ronald H. Bayes (1932- ), resident of Laurinburg, N.C., began teaching creative writing at St. Andrews Presbyterian College in 1968. Bayes founded the "St. Andrews Review" and the St. Andrews Press, a magazine and small press dedicated to publishing both established and emerging writers, primarily poets, and created the St. Andrews Writers Forum. He published more than 16 poetry books and wrote reviews, poems, short stories, and a few plays.

Poet Ronald Bayes was born in Freewater, Ore., on 19 July 1932 to Floyd Edgar Bayes and Mildred Florence Bayes, but was raised by his maternal grandparents, Homer and Florence Cochran. He attended Eastern Oregon State College (E.O.S.C.) where he received his B.S. in English and Education in 1955. During the next year, Bayes taught at E.O.S.C. as an assistant professor of English while completing his master's degree. From 1956 to 1958, Bayes served in the United States Army Infantry and was stationed in Iceland. After being discharged, Bayes returned to teaching as a lecturer for the University of Maryland's overseas program in Japan. From 1959 to 1960, Bayes was enrolled in the Ph.D. program at the University of Pennsylvania as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. Leaving the American literature program with all but his dissertation completed, Bayes returned to E.O.S.C. as an associate professor of English and taught there until 1968. During the 1966-1967 academic year, Bayes again taught in Japan for the University of Maryland. In 1968, Bayes accepted the position of writer-in-residence at St. Andrews Presbyterian College and moved to Laurinburg, N.C.

While at St. Andrews, Bayes founded and became executive editor of the St. Andrews Review and the St. Andrews Press, the former a literary magazine and the latter a small press dedicated to publishing both established and emerging writers, primarily poets. Bayes also established the St. Andrews Writers Forum, a weekly event that brought outside writers and poets to the college for readings and symposia. Bayes published more than 16 books of poetry, as well as writing reviews, plays, and short stories.

Throughout his career, Bayes was active both politically and socially. From 1967 to 1968, he was the chair of the GOP Central Committee for Union County, Ore., and again chair in Scotland County, N.C., from 1980 to 1981.

In 1982, the Universita Delle Arti in Termi, Italy, awarded Bayes the honorary degree of Litt.D.M. Other honors include a term as consultant in literature for the National Council for the Arts, 1969-1971; a nomination for a Pulitzer Prize, 1986; recognition as a master poet from the Atlantic Center for the Arts, 1988; the North Carolina Award for Literature, 1989; induction as a life member in the North Carolina Poetry Society, 1990; membership in the Oregon Poetry Society, 1990; and a certificate of honor from the North Carolina Poetry Council, 1994.