Burton Hatlen | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 9, 1936 |
| Died | January 21, 2008 (aged 71) Bangor, Maine, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley |
| Occupation(s) | Professor, Poet |
| Notable work | I Wanted to Tell You |
| Spouse(s) | Barbara Karlson (1961-1983); Virginia Nees-Hatlen (1983-2008) |
Burton Norval Hatlen (April 9, 1936 – January 21, 2008)[1] was an American literary scholar and professor at the University of Maine.[1] Hatlen worked closely with Carroll F. Terrell, an Ezra Pound scholar and co-founder of the National Poetry Foundation, to build the Foundation into an internationally known institution.[1]
Hatlen was seen as a mentor by several of his former students, most notably author Stephen King and his wife, Tabitha King.[1] In an afterward to his novel Lisey's Story, King paid tribute to Hatlen:
Burt was the greatest English teacher I ever had. It was he who first showed me the way to the pool, which he called “the language-pool, the myth-pool, where we all go down to drink.” That was in 1968. I have trod the path that leads there often in the years since, and I can think of no better place to spend one’s days; the water is still sweet, and the fish still swim.[2]