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A RESOLUTION adjourning the Senate in honor of Wendell Berry. 1
WHEREAS, Wendell Berry was born in Henry County, Kentucky, on August 5, 2
1934. The son of a lawyer and tobacco farmer, Wendell Berry has excelled as an 3
educator, novelist, poet, essayist, farmer, and activist; and 4
WHEREAS, Wendell Berry was educated in the Henry County Public Schools and 5
went to high school at Millersburg Military Institute. He attended the University of 6
Kentucky and earned a bachelor's degree in 1956 and a master's degree in 1957. Wendell 7
Berry received a Wallace Stegner Fellowship from Stanford University in 1958; and 8
WHEREAS, in 1957, Wendell Berry married Tanya Amyx and they raised two 9
children on their farm in Henry County. For over 50 years, the couple continue to live on 10
the farm. Their children have married and carry on the family farming tradition by 11
establishing homesteads in Trimble and Henry counties; and 12
WHEREAS, Wendell Berry taught at Stanford University, Georgetown College, 13
New York University, the University of Cincinnati, Bucknell University, and the 14
University of Kentucky. As a professor, Mr. Berry used the opportunity to contribute to 15
the academic community while teaching students vital skills and supporting them to reach 16
their potential; and 17
WHEREAS, Wendell Berry is a renowned published author across many genres. 18
He has written over 60 fiction and nonfiction novels, collections of essays, collections of 19
poetry, and collections of short stories. Through writing, Wendell Berry has addressed 20
issues relating to the environment, race, and economy. In 2018, Library of America 21
published editions of his writing: a fiction volume with his Port William series from the 22
Civil War to World War II, followed by a two-volume edition of his essays, 1969 – 1992, 23
and 1993 – 2017. Library of America has announced plans to publish another volume of 24
fiction and a volume of poetry. In 2022, Mr. Berry published two books: The Need to Be 25
Whole: Patriotism and the History of Prejudice and How it Went: Thirteen More Stories 26
of the Port William Membership; and 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 90
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WHEREAS, Wendell Berry has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors 1
for his literary works and humanitarian efforts. Some of the more notable ones include a 2
Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship (1962), the Vachel Lindsay Prize for Poetry (1962), 3
a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship (1965), a National Institute of Arts and Letters 4
award for writing (1971), the Emily Clark Balch Prize from The Virginia Quarterly 5
Review (1974), the American Academy of Arts and Letters Jean Stein Award (1987), a 6
Lannan Foundation Award for Non-Fiction (1989), membership in the Fellowship of 7
Southern Writers (1991), the Ingersoll Foundation's T. S. Elliot Award (1994), the John 8
Hay Award (1997), the Lyndhurst Prize (1997), the Aitken-Taylor Award for Poetry from 9
The Sewanee Review (1998), the National Humanities Medal (2010), and the Richard C. 10
Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize (2013). 11
Mr. Berry was awarded the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Award – the Freedom 12
Medal (2013), the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Books 13
Critics Circle (2016), the Henry Hope Reed Award from the University of Notre Dame 14
School of Architecture (2022), and the Franklin Founder Award from the Franklin 15
Celebration Committee (2022); and 16
WHEREAS, in 2012, Mr. Berry was chosen to give the National Endowment for 17
the Humanities Jefferson Lecture at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In 2015, 18
Mr. Berry was inducted into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame; and 19
WHEREAS, Wendell Berry continues to work, writing about good agriculture, 20
family farms, the importance of nature, small rural communities, and peaceableness. Mr. 21
Berry believes that properly scaled farming is essential to healthy local economies, and 22
that strong local economies are essential to our survival and the wellbeing of the country 23
and the earth; and 24
WHEREAS, Wendell Berry's work advocating for small farmers and land-25
conserving communities continues at The Berry Center in New Castle, Kentucky; 26
NOW, THEREFORE, 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 90
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Be it resolved by the Senate of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of 1
Kentucky: 2
Section 1. The members of the Senate recognize the literary and humanitarian 3
achievements of Wendell Berry and his service to Kentucky and the United States of 4
America. 5
Section 2. When the Senate adjourns this day, it does so in honor of Wendell 6
Berry. 7
Section 3. The Clerk of the Senate is directed to transmit a copy of this 8
Resolution to Senator John Schickel for delivery to Wendell Berry. 9