Educator, writer, U.S. Steel employee. Born– April 18, 1902, Leeds.  Parents– James Barnett and Ida Lee (Vann) Elliott. Married– Laura Emily Bozeman, February 25, 1928. Children– Three. Education– Birmingham-Southern, B.S., 1926; University of Alabama, M.A., 1929; George Peabody College, 1937. Taught in Jefferson County Public Schools, 1926-1929; Boyles Grammar School in Tarrant, 1929-1937; Birmingham schools, 1937-1942. Worked in the pyrometry department, U.S. Steel in Fairfield, 1942-1966. Author of poems and short stories published in many periodicals and anthologies, including Oberfirst’s Anthology of Short Stories for 1955, 1958, 1959, and 1960. Member of the American Poetry League, American Poets Fellowship Society, Alabama Poetry Society, and the Alabama Writers Conclave.  Won many awards for his writing, including the first prize in the 1960  short story competition of the, New York Writers Guild, 1960; the Pence Prize of the American Poets Fellowship Society, 1967; four first place prizes by the Alabama Writers Conclave, 1967-1968. Awarded honorary degrees by the Free University of Asia (Karachi, Pakistan) and World University, Madras. Named fourth Poet Laureate of Alabama by Governor George Wallace, 1975-82.  Died October 22, 1997.

Source:

Who’s Who in the South and Southwest, 1976-1977; Who’s Who in Alabama, 1972-1973 and Alabama Public Library Service files.

Publication(s):

Sisu and His Children. S.l.; s.n., 1977.

Skylights; Poems of Inspiration and Devotion, Books 1-3. Birmingham, Ala.; Privately printed, 1951-1959.

Voices; the Universal Scene. Books 1 & 2. Birmingham, Ala.; s.n., 1951-1954.

We Went Singing, and Other Alabama Inspired Poems. Huntsville, Ala.; W. Y. Elliott, 1981.

Wings for the Soul. Birmingham, Ala.; Author, 1969.

Updated 2011-8-11.