Ruth Stephan was the only daughter of Charles R. Walgreen, founder of the drugstore chain. She was also a novelist, poet, record and film producer. But, within the Tucson poetry community, she is known as the founder and benefactress of the UA Poetry Center.
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1962 Star files
Ruth Stephan
Stephan, who wintered here from her home in Connecticut, spent her time in Tucson writing in a cottage owned by her friend, Ada McCormick. Eventually, Stephan owned that cottage and an adjoining one. In 1960, she established the poetry center and donated the buildings to house the center and visiting poets.
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1962 Star files
People are also reading…
One of two cottages at Speedway and Highland Ave.
Above the doorway to the center a sign reads “The fieries and the snuffies.” The phrase, chosen by Stephan, was from a cowboy ballad. It was about a cowboy lamenting his solitary and sad existence calling his situation an “inferno” of the Fieries and Snuffies.” Stephan thought that was sure to bring a smile to writers who entered the house.
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Ray Manley photo
Robert Frost, second from left, and Ruth Stephan at the Poetry Center dedication.
Present for the dedication of the center was noted American poet Robert Frost.
Stephan continued to winter here and stayed in the cottage to work on her projects, including “A Spoken Anthology of American Literature.” This was a University sponsored series of records. She also enjoyed tennis at the Tucson Racquet Club.
Stephan died in 1974.
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