Kenneth Wayne Fields
Aug. 1, 1939-Dec. 6, 2023
Palo Alto, California

Kenneth Wayne Fields, professor emeritus at Stanford University’s Department of English and Creative Writing Program, passed away on December 6th, 2023, from complications due to ALS. He was 84 years old and died peacefully at home surrounded by his family and his beloved dog Butchie.

Ken was born in Colorado City, Texas, to Hazel Fambro Fields and Julius Carroll Fields, but at the age of six weeks, the family returned to their home in San Luis Obispo, California. While Ken always felt a strong connection to his Texas roots, upon arrival in California his mother, Hazel, took him to Avila Beach. She dipped his toes in the Pacific Ocean, baptizing him a lifelong Californian.

Ken spent a happy childhood riding his bicycle up and down the California coastline and exploring the back hills of San Luis Obispo with his many friends and younger brother Don. In high school, Ken showed an aptitude for football and would go on to play for UC Santa Barbara. Ken was the first person in his family to graduate from college. While at Santa Barbara Ken met poet and critic Edgar Bowers. Bowers instilled in Ken a love of poetry and literature and, most importantly, introduced Ken to the work of poet Yvor Winters, who was teaching at Stanford. This would be a life-changing introduction which (after serving his ROTC commitment to the US Army from 1961-1963), led to his pursuing a PhD at Stanford in English. He entered Winters’ poetry workshop as a Stegner Fellow, a creative writing program which he would later come to co-lead during his over 50 years of teaching at Stanford.

In 1967, Ken was asked to join the Stanford faculty, where he would go on to teach for 53 years, making him one of the longest-serving faculty members in the university’s history. While at Stanford, Ken developed many classes including American Indian Mythology, French Symbolist Poets, American Poets, Beat Poetry, and American Short Fiction among others. He also taught film classes, focusing on Film Noir and Westerns, as well as courses on the American Songbook. His interests were far-reaching, and he was equally inspired by “high” and “low” culture.

Ken’s greatest joy was in his relationships: with students, colleagues, family, and friends. He was a renowned wit, storyteller, and collector of jokes. His participation in the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous was a source of great pride, as he understood the role of personal stories and healing were integral in both the arts and life. In July, Ken marked 41 years of sobriety.

Ken’s works include six poetry collections: The Other Walker, Sunbelly, Smoke, The Odysseus Manuscripts, August Delights, and Classic Rough News. The past four years of his life were devoted to Blue Plateau, a collection of nearly 1,000 poems.

Ken is survived by his wife Nora Cain, his daughters, Erika Fields Jurney, Samantha Fields, and Jessica Fields, grandsons Henry Jurney, Ed Jurney, and Charlie Jurney, his brother Don Fields and sister-in-law Ginger Rutland.

Tags: teacher/educator