Laird, Charlton, 1901-1984

Charlton G. Laird was a linguist and professor of English at the University of Nevada, 1945-1968. In addition to his own publications, he co-authored English text books with Robert M. Gorrell, and a language book with wife, Helen Gent Laird. His correspondence includes folklorist and linguist Sven Liljeblad and his wife, Astrid; Nevada author Walter Van Tilburg Clark; Max and Michaline Urban, promoters for Latin America music in the United States; and Helen S. Carlson, author of a book on Nevada place names. The collection also includes documentation of a book intended for the study of influences upon English and American literature and culture under the original editorship of Arthur E. Christy, Columbia University, in 1939. Upon Christy's death in 1946, Laird assumed editorship, and produced completed and edited manuscripts (missing from collection) on two occasions, but each time the texts were outdated before details of publication could be worked out and was never published. Laird also authored two published novels about early settlement on the Mississippi River, and the collection contains drafts of stories in the proposed series of novels that were to follow.

Charlton Laird was born in Nashua, Iowa, in 1901. He attended the universities of Iowa, Columbia, and Stanford. In 1943 he went to the University of Nevada as head of the Department of English. Aside from his work as a lecturer and author, Laird was a member of the Modern Language Association of America and of the National Council of Teachers of English. He wrote extensively on language acquisition, use, and teaching. Laird wrote two novels, Thunder on the River and West of the River, which both appeared in the early 1950s, in addition to other books and textbooks. Charlton Laird died in 1984.

Charlton Laird, a noted linguist, author, and English professor at the University of Nevada had written an unpublished autobiography, I'd rather write. John Garberson, a university journalism professor and friend of Laird, proposed using the manuscript and adding his biographical notes to each chapter. Working together, Garberson contacted Laird's long-time friends and requested information or opinions about Laird. Included in the responses is information about Laird's first wife, Floy Davis Laird, including copies of her poetry, and second wife, Helene Gent Laird. Laird also gave him materials and publications from his personal collection, which includes his correspondence to Sven Liljeblad, folklorist and linguist. The tentative title for this autobiography/biography was Most of the whole truth, but was not completed when, in 1984, both Laird and Garberson died within days of each other.

Charlton G. Laird was a linguist and professor of English at the University of Nevada, 1945-1968. In addition to his own numerous publications, both scholarly and fiction, he co-authored English text books with Robert M. Gorrell, and a language book with wife, Helen Gent Laird. His correspondence includes items from folklorist and linguist Sven Liljebland and his wife, Astrid; Nevada author Walter Van Tilburg Clark; Max Urban, Latin music promoter; Helen S. Carlson, author of a book on Nevada place names; and Gareth Hughes, an actor who changed his name to Brother David when he became and Episcopal priest. Laird also was appointed editor in 1946 to A Guide to comparative literature, a study of influences upon English and American literature, which was never published. Laird was married to Floy Davis in 1925, until her death in 1944, and to Helene Gent in 1945; both women were writers as well.