“Dickey, born in Atlanta, was a high school football star. He flew combat missions in the Pacific during World War II. After the war, he graduated from Vanderbilt University and studied further at Rice University. His two most famous volumes of verse are “Helmets” (1964) and “Buckdancer’s Choice” (1965), which won the 1966 National Book Award. In 1970, he wrote the best-selling novel “Deliverance,” which was made into a major motion picture.”

–Library of Congress Poets Laureate page

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