Central Valley Writers Workshop - Ed Bearden
Ed Bearden
Ed Bearden calls himself a humanitarian and feels “compassion is important.” In keeping with his chosen journey, he has lived his life in support of the arts and local human rights and environmental causes. He attended schools in the Empire School District as a boy and was elected to the district’s board of trustees in 1983. During his 20-year incumbency he has been instrumental in securing a solar panel system for Norman Glick Middle School (see article in April Connections), worked to eliminate corporal punishment, helped to eliminate smoking on all campuses and in district owned vehicles, and spearheaded an AIDS policy two years prior to the establishment of a statewide ruling by the California State Board of Education.
Ed was inspired to write as a teenager following an older cousin’s reading of “The Highwayman” by Alford Noyes, which captured his imagination as if the words “were the notes of a song.” At 15 he wrote his first play and a few years later began a lifelong process of journaling, which is the source for most of his poetry and stories. During his college days he was editor and publisher of the Stanislaus State College literary magazine, The Sentinel, and was published in the national college anthology, American Sings. Subsequently he has been published in Stanislaus Connections, Quercus Review, Penumbra, The Poets Corner, Song of the San Joaquin and In The Grove. His poetry has won prizes from The Book Store Ltd., the Acorn Review, California Quarterly and the California Federation of Chaparral Poets of which he is a member through the local chapter of Poets of the San Joaquin. Ed, of course, is the poet Laureate of Modesto. He also has been a regular contributor to The Modesto Bee’s “Our Turn” column, which has allowed him to write about his early years in Stanislaus County and experiment with writing humor. He holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work and worked with Stanislaus County. He also earned a Marriage Family and Child Counselor license. Following retirement in 1990 he took on a second career with his wife, Roberta, as co-owner/operator of Choice Investments Realty, a real estate sales and property management company. |
Ed is interviewed by his wife for his show Two Roads
More than soil more than sky
More than soil more than sky is an anthology of Modesto poets, that has won mass acclaim. It is available at amazon.com
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