Miller Williams

Staff photo

A memorial service in honor of Fayetteville poet and former University of Arkansas professor, Miller Williams, is planned for next weekend.

The event will be held at 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 26 at the Fayetteville Public Library.

Miller Williams, a longtime University of Arkansas professor and inaugural poet for President Bill Clinton, died on Jan. 1 after battling Alzheimer’s disease for the last several years. He was 84.

Williams was born in Hoxie, Arkansas, before coming to the University of Arkansas where he earned a masters degree in Zoology. He taught at various small colleges around the country before joining the faculty at the UA in 1970. There, he co-founded and directed the University of Arkansas Press.

He wrote, translated or edited more than 30 books, including several collections of his own poetry. In 1997, he was chosen to read his poem Of History and Hope at Clinton’s second inauguration.

He was the father of three children, Robert, Karyn, and well-known songwriter Lucinda Williams, and he has three grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

The library will be open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. with limited service the day of the memorial.

Doors for the memorial service will open at 4:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend.