Wallace Stegner

In conjunction with the University of Utah, KUED is honoring alumni Wallace Stegner - the “Dean” of western writers. Wallace Stegner, a biographical film portrait, celebrates the 2009 centennial of his birth. Wallace Stegner was an acclaimed writer, conservationist, and teacher. He became one of America’s greatest writers. His books include the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Angle of Repose" and "Beyond the Hundredth Meridian". His "The Wilderness Letter" became the conscience of the conservation movement.

Wallace Stegner mentored a generation’s greatest writers including Ken Kesey, Edward Abbey, and Larry McMurtry. Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was a student. This one-hour documentary paints a portrait of the West that Wallace Stegner so loved.

The film reveals insights into his life by interviews with his famous students, contemporaries, and family. Interviews include Sandra Day O’Connor, Bruce Babbitt, Stewart Udall, biographers Philip Fradkin and Robert Steensma, author Thomas McGuane, Page Stegner as well as legacy interviews with Edward Abbey, David Brower, and Wallace Stegner.

The film is narrated by motion picture/television actor Peter Coyote in High Definition Television with 5.1 Surround Sound.