Vardis Fisher
Vardis Alvero Fisher (March 31, 1895 – July 9, 1968) was an American writer from Idaho who wrote popular historical novels of the Old West.
In 1940, Fisher relocated to Hagerman, Idaho, and spent the next twenty years writing the 12-volume Testament of Man (1943–1960) series of novels, depicting the history of humans from cavemen to civilization.
A more recent paper by Michael Austin suggests that Fisher's work was influenced by residual "scars" of his family heritage and Mormon upbringing and that these scars resulted in his incorporating into many of his novels the theme of a religious unbeliever trying to find ways to live within a religious community.
[10] Fisher signed up to join the Air Force in the spring of 1918 and attended cadet school in Berkeley, California.
He lost motivation when he found out that he might become a non-commissioned officer, and resigned in early summer, returning to Idaho Falls.
Fisher worked with his father and uncle in their automotive shop, and stayed there while Leona went to live with her parents in Antelope while their baby was born.
[13] He found the University of Chicago intensely stimulating, writing that the library contained "all the lordly wealth of wisdom".
[14] In September 1921, Fisher returned to the University of Chicago for his MA, this time bringing his wife and child with him.
[23] He taught English at Washington Square College of New York University until 1931, and he became friends with Thomas Wolfe during his stay there.
His knowledge of his region's history, folkways, and dialect made him an inspiring writer, according to Attebery at the College of Idaho.
[24] Toilers of the Hills (1928) was successful, with critics calling it the first important fiction coming from the Rocky Mountain region.
[29][1] In Tragic Life, the first of Fisher's autobiographical tetralogy, had many favorable reviews, and a second printing was issued by Doubleday and Caxton Press in 1933.
"[30] In Tragic Life sold fewer than 2000 copies, but its attention from Eastern literary critics helped Caxton establish itself as a prominent publisher of Western literature.
[31] In 1935 Fisher accepted a job with the Federal Writers' Project, part of the Works Progress Administration, and wrote most of The Idaho Guide.
Fisher received help from high school students, who provided obscure information about remote locations.
[35][36] Fisher saw the government as wasting resources in bureaucracy, and felt that the eastern United States saw the West as a source of wealth to be exploited.
[40] Frederick M. Smith, president of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, strongly repudiated the book in the Kansas City Times.
[41] In the LDS Church, John A. Widtsoe wrote an unpublished review of the book where he criticized Fisher's portrayal of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young in 1939.
Darryl F. Zanuck purchased the movie rights to the book, but only to prevent a lawsuit in the screenwriting of Brigham Young (1940).
Carl Van Doren, one of the Harper prize judges, said that the book was neither anti-Mormon invective nor pro-Mormon hagiography.
Givens wrote that Fisher presents Joseph Smith as a simple but likable man, and Brigham Young as "pragmatic and decisive;"[43] a successful portrayal of the way adversity solidified bonds between early Saints.
[46] He read over 2,000 scholarly books in his research on the history and development of the human race for the Testament of Man series.
[50] Alan Swallow offered to publish the remaining volumes, focusing on special signed and numbered editions to help offset printing costs.
"[55] She wrote that the entire twelve volumes were "a massive exposition of one of the greatest perduring male fantasies of all time.
Most of his journalistic work is collected in Thomas Wolfe as I Knew Him and Other Essays, with the notable exception of "The Mormons" published in Transatlantic.
[6] Austin argues that the "type" of Fisher character in each of the 12 Testament of Man books show sympathies to religion.
[62] During their separation, Fisher was intensely jealous of any other man who interacted with Leona, often demanding details in letters about people she had spoken with.
[35] In July 1936, Fisher met Opal Laurel Holmes, a competent researcher in his WPA project.
[70][1] Fisher married Opal Laurel Holmes on April 16, 1940, and bought land near Hagerman, Idaho, where they built their own house.
[19] Opal Fisher died in 1995, leaving $237,000 from her estate to the University of Idaho for the creation of a humanities professorship.
