Stuart Chalfant has been more intensely involved in poetry writing and reading since 1994, although a casual writer of poetry since age eight. He had the fortunate experience of studying under Robert Frost when the latter was Poet in Residence at Dartmouth College where Stu graduated in 1949. He went on to post-graduate studies in anthropology at Cornell and Columbia Universities. Stu is a Purple Heart veteran, wounded in combat in Italy while serving in the Tenth Mountain Division. He has written a fair amount of war poetry. A transplant from New York to California in 1958 and now retired. He enjoyed careers in anthropology; development of computer-based training programs; telescope manufacture; teaching on staff at UCLA Extension in the field of adult counseling; and as a counselor. He is the author of a number of published studies detailing his field work and studies of Native American groups in Northwestern America.
Several of Stu’s recent poems have been published in volumes Two and Four of the poetry magazine, Daybreak, edited by Virginia Anderson. He has been the featured reader at several poetry meetings and participates in Paradigm poetry readings.
Stu and his wife, Hertha, live in Simi Valley, California, where they enjoy several avocations. Stu has been designing and creating sterling silver jewelry for over 40 years and teaches the art to others. Both are mineral specimen collectors. Stu is a member of the Board of Directors of the Gem & Mineral Council of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles Country. Both are active members of the Conejo Gem & Mineral Club where they have served in various officerships.
Award: Stu received the Editor’s Choice award for his poem “Dreamland”, published in Diamonds and Pearls, The National Library of Poetry, 1997.