Henry
Dale Griffith, 68, son of Henry B. and Juanita
"Geraldine" Griffith, was born Aug. 6, 1940, in
Springfield, Mo. He died Sunday, May 3, 2009, in his home at West
Fork.
Henry
grew up on a small farm near Little Rock and graduated from Little
Rock Central High School in the memorable year of 1958. He was an
award-winning reporter for The Tiger, the Central High School
newspaper during the Little Rock Nine integration crisis.
He
studied literature and philosophy at the University of Arkansas,
Fayetteville, and attended the MFA Creative Writing Workshop in
poetry at the State University of Iowa in Iowa City. He authored
three poetry books, "And", "Wounds in the Left
Eye" and "A Beast in View", and his poetry appeared
in numerous literary magazines. He was a poet who did various jobs
to earn a living, jobs that included bookstore management, bar
tending, film and video production and tourist trolley driving.
During
the 1970s he lived in a successful urban commune in New Orleans.
Later he moved to Eureka Springs, where he was the founder and
director of the Tao Academy of Healing and Martial Arts. From 1985
until his death, he and his wife, Carolyn, lived on their farm in
West Fork.
Henry
was a founding member of the Rapid Response Writers Group. He served
on the board of ACLU of Northwest Arkansas. He was coordinator for
the West Fork Environmental Protection Association and for the
Organizing Committee of the West Fork Recycling Center. He was a
member of Senior Democrats and frequently expressed his liberal
views through letters to the local newspapers.
Henry
loved and took care of animals. He suspected he was set down here on
this earth to open doors for them and learned long ago you had to be
nice to your animals or they would raise your rent. Henry had a
sense of humor.
He
is survived by his wife, Carolyn; his brother, Reynolds Griffith and
wife Alice of Denton, Texas; and numerous loving relatives and
friends. Henry was cremated by Beard's Funeral Chapel and Crematory
of Fayetteville, and a Celebration of Life will be announced at a
later date.
Groups
that were special to Henry include the Fayetteville Humane Society,
Fayetteville and West Fork libraries, OMNI and environmental
organizations.
Recently
someone told him, "Henry, you're a treasure."
And
he said, "Well, that explains why they keep trying to bury me
in the backyard."
That's
where he is now.