Retired University of Nevada, Las Vegas English professor and poet A. Wilber Stevens died Thursday after a long illness. He was 75.
Stevens, who joined the UNLV faculty in 1973, was a also an editor, a drama and music critic, an actor, and a scholar.
He held teaching posts at a dozen colleges and universities during a career that spanned five decades. He taught at the University of Washington, Idaho State University, Park College, and Prescott College, in addition to serving as a Fulbright Professor of English and American Literature at the University of Mandalay in Burma, the University of Chulalongkorn in Thailand, and the University of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro.
Stevens authored more than 100 published poems, more than 15 articles, and eight book-length works. He also wrote hundreds of theater, music, and book reviews.
Locally, he was widely recognized as editor and publisher of "Interim," a literary magazine.
Born Aug. 16, 1921, in Brooklyn, N.Y., he was a 23-year resident of Las Vegas. He was also an Army veteran of World War II.
He held a bachelor's degree from Brown University and master's degrees from both the University of London and the University of Washington, where he went on to obtain a doctorate in 1957.
Stevens served as a theater and music critic for a variety of newspapers, including the Las Vegas Sun and the Las Vegas Review-Journal in recent years. He also served as a reviewer for the national newspaper, The Billboard, from 1947-59.
He played in summer stock acting companies in New England and held roles in the Oregon Shakespearean Festival.
Stevens also presented some 20 papers and talks before professional societies on a wide range of subjects, including Southeast Asian Literature, Henry James, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. He gave poetry readings of his own work at more than 25 colleges and universities and various poetry groups and societies in Great Britain, Burma, Thailand, Australia, Brazil, and Singapore.
He was a member of numerous learned societies and UNLV committees.
"Wilber Stevens lived life fully and had the ability to turn personal experiences into exquisite writing. He touched the lives of hundreds of students and faculty in meaningful and personal ways. People came away from their encounters with Wilber enlightened and often amused. He was one of the university's raconteurs who seemed to know everyone who ever lived. He was also the last of a breed of Renaissance men," said Joe McCullough, chair of the UNLV English department.
Stevens is survived by his sons Arthur III of Medford, Ore., and Christopher of San Francisco; and three grandchildren. Services are to be held 1 p.m. Tuesday at Christ Church Episcopal in Las Vegas, Nevada.
