Samuel Talmadge Ragan (December 31, 1915 – May 11, 1996)[1] was an American journalist, author, poet, and arts advocate from North Carolina.
Sam Ragan was born in Berea, North Carolina, an unincorporated community in Granville County.
While with the News & Observer, he began writing Southern Accent, a weekly newspaper column of literary criticism, commentary and poetry.
In 1982, Governor Jim Hunt named Sam Ragan North Carolina's Poet Laureate for life.
[3] In 1981, St. Andrews University established the Sam Ragan Awards, are given annually to honor contributions to fine art.