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Dr. Vardis Fisher
Vardis Alvero Fisher (1895-1968) was an American writer best known for his popular historical novels of the Old West. He also wrote the monumental 12-volume Testament of Man (1943-1960) series of n...view moreVardis Alvero Fisher (1895-1968) was an American writer best known for his popular historical novels of the Old West. He also wrote the monumental 12-volume Testament of Man (1943-1960) series of novels, depicting the history of humans from cave to civilization.
Born on March 31, 1895 in Annis, Idaho, near present-day Rigby, of a Mormon family and descent, he graduated from the University of Utah in 1920. He earned a Master of Arts degree (1922) and a Ph.D. (1925) at the University of Chicago.
He was an assistant professor of English at the University of Utah (1925-1928) and New York University (1928-1931). He taught as a summer professor at Montana State University (1932-1933) in Bozeman.
Between 1935-1939 he worked as the director of the Idaho Writer’s Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. He wrote several books about Idaho. He was also a newspaper columnist for the Idaho Statesman and Idaho Statewide (which later became the Intermountain Observer).
In order to write his Testament of Man (1943-1960) series, he read more than 2,000 books on anthropology, history, psychology, theology and comparative religion. His other works include the historical novel, Children of God, tracing the history of the Mormons, which won the 1939 Harper Prize in Fiction; the novel Mountain Man (1965), which was adapted for Sydney Pollack’s film, Jeremiah Johnson (1972); The Mothers: An American Saga of Courage (1943), which tells the story of the Donner Party tragedy; and Tale of Valor (1960), a novel recounting the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He also wrote a non-fiction book on how to write fiction books called God or Caesar? (1953).
Fisher was married three times and died on July 9, 1968, aged 73, in Hagerman, Idaho.view less
Books by Dr. Vardis Fisher
The Island of the Innocent: A Novel of Greek and Jew in the Time of the Maccabees