Arnold, Marilyn 1935–

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ARNOLD, Marilyn 1935–

PERSONAL: Born November 26, 1935, in Salt Lake City, UT; daughter of Henry Lynn (a road contractor) and Rhoda Jane (a teacher; maiden name, Clark) Arnold. Education: Brigham Young University, B.S., 1957, M.S., 1958; University of Wisconsin—Madison, Ph.D., 1968. Religion: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon).

ADDRESSES: Home—145 Mountain Vale Way, Woodland Hills, UT 84653. Office—Smoot Building, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602.

CAREER: University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, assistant dean of women, 1962–64, assistant director of student financial aid, 1964–65; Weber State College, Ogden, UT, assistant professor of English, 1968–69; Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, assistant professor, 1969–75, associate professor and assistant to the president, 1975–79, professor of English, beginning 1980, director of Center for the Study of Christian Values in Literature, 1979–82, dean of graduate studies, beginning 1985.

MEMBER: Modern Language Association of America, Western Literature Association, Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association, Philological Association of the Pacific Coast, Willa Cather Foundation, Utah Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters, Consortium of Utah Women in Higher Education.

AWARDS, HONORS: Karl G. Maeser Research Award, Brigham Young University Alumni Association, 1985.

WRITINGS:

Willa Cather's Short Fiction, Ohio University Press (Columbus, OH), 1984.

Willa Cather: A Reference Guide, G. K. Hall, 1986.

(Editor, with Debra Lynn Thornton) A Reader's Companion to the Fiction of Willa Cather, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 1993.

Sweet Is the Word: Reflections on the Book of Mormon—Its Narrative, Teachings, and People, Covenant Communications (American Fork, UT), 1996.

(Editor and contributor) Pure Love: Readings on Sixteen Enduring Virtues, Deseret Book Co. (Salt Lake City, UT), 1997.

Desert Song (novel), Covenant Communications (American Fork, UT), 1998.

Song of Hope (novel), Covenant Communications (American Fork, UT), 1999.

Sky Full of Ribbons (novel), Covenant Communications (American Fork, UT), 2000.

Fields of Clover (novel), Salt Press (Springville, UT), 2002.

(Editor, with Bonnie Ballif-Spanvill and Kristen Tracy) A Chorus for Peace: A Global Anthology of Poetry by Women, University of Iowa Press (Iowa City, IA), 2002.

The Classmates, Bonneville Books (Springville, UT), 2003.

Contributor to academic journals. Editor, Literature and Belief, 1979–82.

SIDELIGHTS: Marilyn Arnold once told CA: "So far, except for occasional pieces in general circulation periodicals, my published writing has been largely academic. My lifelong dream, however, is to leave structured academic life (and the incessant administrative jobs that sap energy and time) and devote myself to writing (and hiking and playing tennis and skiing). Though the mountains are dear, the desert is my first love, and I would like to do some writing that reflects my experiences there as an avid backpacker. I would also expect, in the more relaxed setting of home, rather than university office, to continue to write about Willa Cather and Eudora Welty. I would hope to have more time to spend in the library. Like Sonny in one of James Baldwin's stories, I believe that people should get to do what they earnestly want to do. I hope that I don't have to wait until the age of sixty-five to realize my dream.

"My most valuable contribution to Cather studies—more valuable than a host of published articles, papers read, or lectures delivered at national seminars—is my reference guide, which was published in 1986. It contains nearly 2,000 annotated references to secondary materials relating to Cather's work. It is the only work of its kind about Willa Cather. In the research for that book, I turned up articles, letters, and other documents hitherto unknown among Cather scholars. The indexes alone are a valuable tool to direct the student and scholar to materials about Cather."