Vardis Fisher - Idaho's Greatest Author

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Vardis Fisher, possibly Idaho’s greatest writer, was a very prolific writer of his time – not only did his 38 books cover many different subject ranging from history to poetry, but he also found time for newspaper articles on many different topics.
Born in 1895, he graduated from the University of Utah in 1920, then from the University of Chicago in 1922 after having gone to the high school in Rugby, Idaho. 3 wives and 3 children later, he passed away in 1968. In fact, he returned to the University of Utah where be spent some time as assistant professor of English.
As well as his writing, his hobbies included house building. In fact, when he built his own home in Idaho, he also did the wiring, carpentry, plumbing etc all himself.
His newspaper articles allowed him to voice his political beliefs – notably that the US should stay out of other people’s wars. Until Pearl Harbour, he was against any US involvement in World War 2 and those views remained the same in the context of the Vietnam War. In fact, he was an outspoken critic of US Foreign Policy in many different areas.
He may not be the most famous author from Idaho, with Ernest Hemmingway beating him on that front, but he did have to read over 2000 publications to write his Testament of Man series.
Ironically, probably his greatest hour came 2 years after his death when his novel, Mountain Man: A Novel of Male and Female in the Early American West, was adapted into the film Jeremiah Johnson and released in 1972.
Jeremiah Johnson is an American soldier who escapes from the Mexican war into the beautiful life of the Rocky Mountains. Starring Robert Redford in the title role, he learns how to survive the sometimes harsh conditions but soon falls in love with his so-to-be Indian bride. However, Jeremiah accidentally upsets the local indigenous Indian population by violating their ancient burial ground. This in turns leads the Indians to ensure his peaceful, idyllic life as a fur trapper is disrupted beyond recognition. The irony is that, despite once having shared the land, Jeremiah and the Indians now fight over it – without truly realising that they will soon have a much bigger fight on their hands.
Directed by Sidney Pollack, the film was nominated at the Canes Film Festival for the Golden Palm, and proudly won the Bronze Wrangler award at the Western Heritage awards.