Clark Crouch, Cowboy Poet
of Richland, Washington, delivers the reality of the
West through his western and cowboy poetry. His
performances are drawn from more than 200 original poems
which capture the humor and the pathos of the west of
yesterday and today. He is especially known for the
brevity and wit of his poems, many of which end with a
humorous twist. But Clark Crouch is much more than a
poet and performer. He is a BLUE RIBBON MAN who
achieved much in his life and did it on his
own.... the tough way....through hard work....through
life-long service to his country and community.
He was born in 1928
and spent his youth in the Sandhills of Nebraska,
earning his own way as a cowboy from the age of twelve
until he was nearly eighteen. His
life and attitudes were shaped by drought and The Great
Depression. He and his parents lived for a time
on a ranch occupying a one room sod house which was about
twenty feet square with an earthen floor and a sod roof.
Cheesecloth strung beneath the roof caught falling dirt and
insects and sheets strung on wires provided partitions for
two rudimentary bedrooms. The amenities were strictly
mid-19th Century.
Clark attended a succession of rural, one-room schools walking
or riding his pony as much as five miles morning and
evening. Employed as a ranch hand during the summers from
the time he was twelve until he was nearly eighteen, he
worked his way through high school, supplementing his summer
income by working at various times as a retail clerk,
telephone operator, janitor, and truck driver. Clark
joined the Army Air Corps right out of high school
toward the end of WWII and was recalled to the U.S. Air
Force during the Korean conflict.
He was employed by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.
During his 32 years of service, he held such positions as Director
of Contracting and Procurement, Assistant to the
Director of Nuclear Materials Safeguards, Assistant to
the Director of Engineering and Construction, Contract
Administrator for programs valued at nearly
$500-million, Public Information Officer, Freedom of
Information Officer, and Technical Information Officer
for all reporting on the Hanford Project in Washington
State.
Following his retirement, he started a management
consulting firm specializing in strategic planning,
group facilitation, and team-building. The planning
resources which he developed include a simplified
strategic planning model and tools for its application
which he used in working with clients and in conducting
workshops and seminars for continuing education programs
at several colleges and universities. The model
was successful and is now in use around the world in
colleges and universities, government agencies, and
industrial and business organizations. It was published
in a graduate text, Marketing for the 21st Century,
authored by two professors at Hofstra University in New
York. Although the model is copyrighted, Clark freely
gave permission for its use and never accepted payment
except when he was directly involved in its
implementation within an organization.
Now, at a couple years
shy of 80, Clark does a lot of volunteer work.
Currently, he is a vice-chair of the Washington State
Hanford Area Economic Investment Fund Committee (an
economic development agency which invests in job
creation), chairman of the Richland Housing Authority (a
regional agency), board member and immediate past
president of the Tri-Cities Food Bank (a regional
organization serving four small cities and a large rural
community), member of the Economic Development District
of the Benton Franklin Council of Governments, president
of a local chapter of the National Active and Retired
Federal Employee Association (NARFE), planning
coordinator for the Washington Federation of Chapters of
NARFE.,
His interest in poetry stems from a
1940's acquaintance with Badger Clark, then Poet
Laureate of South Dakota, who inspired him to write his
first cowboy poem in 1941. In 2002 he began writing and
performing cowboy poetry professionally. He has performed
in the Northwestern U.S. and Western Canada at cowboy
gatherings, county fairs, retirement homes, and
community events. In 2006 his
 bookings
include: a Legends of Country Tour in Idaho, Oregon, and
Washington and other venues such as the Jefferson County
Fair at Port Townsend, Washington; the Clatsop County
Fair at Astoria, Oregon; and the Benton Franklin County
Fair at Kennewick, Washington.
Clark Crouch has four books of poetry in print:
Voices of the Wind, Reflections, Where
Horses Reign, and Sun, Sand & Soapweed. He
also has a new CD, Where Horses Reign, containing
thirty-five of his poems. Selected poetry is syndicated
to some fifty regional editions of The Country
Register, an antiques and crafts tabloid, in the
U.S. and Canada.
You can learn more about it at his web site.
http://poetry.crouchnet.com/
Contact:
Email to Clark Crouch
- 509-946-1558
Under copyright
protection. The poem on this web page may not be
excerpted, copied, or reproduced, used or performed in
any form (graphic, electronic or mechanical) without the
express written permission of the author.
HOME
NEXT
|