Biographical information relative to William Pitt Head poetry

Most of his poetry came from his life experiences.  Born in Alabama, he moved around a lot.
His father managed movie theaters in small towns and his mother was a nurse.  He was the
only child so had to go to the movies, especially when his mother worked double shifts during
World War II.  He was a storehouse of movie trivia.  As an only child, he was also aware of
what the adults around him were doing and gossiping about.

Many of his poems centered around his family and other people he knew.  When I met him, he told
me he was the black sheep in his family because of his stand on civil rights in college.

.Both of his parents had died by the time that I met him, but I later had the opportunity to meet his
aunts, uncles, and cousins when we moved  back to Alabama.  I believe that he wanted to be near his
family even if they thought he had not lived up to the promise of his early days.

I looked for some poems that he had written about civil rights and could find only one or two relative to the
subject.  One of these is entitled "Gene" and is about a relative in the Alabama National Guard which had to
surround an African-American church during the freedom rides.   Another poem is called "Slave Ships"
which I found today.   I am not certain what it means.

Many of his poems are about his family and his memories of the past.  As both of my parents are now
deceased, I am now better able to relate to them.  There is a sadness about much of his poetry, but at times
he had a rare sense of humor.

Several years ago, I became aware that William Head had been featured in a book on civil rights
written by Robert Zoellner, who was also a student at Huntingdon, as a member of the
"Huntingdon Five".   This helped me to understand him better.

Cheryl Foust Head