TYRONE — It's been a very good year for Blair County author Todd Davis.
His ninth book of poetry was published earlier this month to much acclaim and a foreword by acclaimed author David James Duncan, and another book in anthology format is due out in September, marking his 21st year as a professor of environmental studies and English at Pennsylvania State University, Altoona.
His latest book of poetry, published by Michigan State University Press (200 pages, $27.95 paperback), is titled Ditch Memory: New and Selected Poems. The book features 30 new pieces and 63 pieces from previous books, which Davis likens to a greatest hits collection. All of the poems are set in the Rust Belt Appalachian region along the Allegheny Mountain Front. Davis draws inspiration from the streams and wildlife refuges of the area, and focuses on local places such as “For stray dogs near a paper mill in Tyrone, Pennsylvania,” “Fishing for largemouth in an open-cut reclaimed pond near Lloydsville, Pennsylvania,” and “The Poet Meets the Buddha at Wildlife Refuge 158 above Tipton, Pennsylvania.”
“I want people to know that poetry is a part of our everyday lives and represents the different ways we live in Blair County,” he wrote when contacted about the book.
The grandson of Appalachian farmers, Davis grew up in Elkhart, Indiana, a mile south of the Michigan border. His family owns 40 acres in Michigan, and Davis enjoyed the outdoors at his grandparents' homes in Kentucky and Virginia. The title, “Memory of a Ditch,” comes from a five-line poem that closes the new work section: “I pictured a wagon path running across my backyard, where the ivory flowers of the wild carrot streamed and crested the banks.”
Davis explains, “I love ditches. I've played in ditches since I was a kid. It's amazing what animals and plants live in them. … I love taking my environmental studies students out along the ditches.”
He talks about yellow, spotted and orange jewelweed, a native plant valued for its medicinal properties. Orange jewelweed, also known as “Touch Me Not,” is one of the ways he gets his students interested in nature.
“The way this flower reproduces, or disperses its seeds, is that when any large animal, any mammal, any deer, any human, touches the seed pod, it instantly falls back and shoots the seeds out three to five feet away,” Davis says. “So students will touch it, and once they touch it, they're hooked.”
His words flow with force and gusto like the mountain trout-fishing rivers he enjoys each spring. Davis' work is imbued with gritty honesty and intimacy as he tackles family dynamics, marital problems, and death and dying.
Davis recalls that her father, a veterinarian, would recite poetry while working at the animal hospital. An avid reader, Davis said, “I was drawn to stories from the beginning by certain authors who had a real connection to the natural world, the primal world. That's why I wanted to read, and that's why I wanted to write.”
Teaching students in the Environmental Studies program at Pennsylvania State University Altoona, combined with spreading his love and appreciation for nature, has transformed his writing.
In the introduction to the collection, fly fisherman and novelist Duncan (author of “The River Why” and “The Brothers K”) writes:
“Davis's unlikely array of voices is a remarkable feature of his work and a generous gift to his readers,” Duncan writes, noting that Davies has the ability to “jump from one perspective to another, each telling its own story.”
Davis is highly respected by his colleagues at Penn State Altoona for his passion.
Carolyn Mahan, professor of biology and environmental studies, said Davis is “passionate about sharing his love of nature with students, and not just talking about nature but sometimes teaching in nature, weather permitting.”
His classrooms are at Seminar Forest across Juniata Gap Road and the Penn State Wildlife Refuge in the Bellwood and Tipton areas, literally in his backyard.
Mahan's office is across the street from Davis'.
“He works with students and spends time with them, and his passion is contagious to the students,” Mahan said.
According to the online course description, environmental studies students receive a multidisciplinary education, taking 70 percent of their courses in science, with the rest in natural sciences, humanities and social sciences. Davis, who has a doctorate in English from Northern Illinois University, teaches the writing skills needed to inspire people to take action on environmental issues, Mahan said, calling it an “important role” because effective communication “gets people's attention.”
Another colleague, Brian Black, professor of history and environmental studies, echoed Mahan's words in praising Davis' passion for nature, his students and his writing: “I go mountain biking with him a lot, and every time we go on a ride I learn something new about nature because he's always talking about what's around us. It's a lot of fun.”
Davis said he didn't know much about Pennsylvania's forests when he came to Penn State Altoona, but he knew he would have better access to public hunting lands.
“It was much more natural and forested. I never imagined it would become such an awe-inspiring, beautiful place for me. I love writing about humans, but I'm drawn to the non-human world, or the natural world beyond the human, so it was just the perfect place for me to teach and write. I feel very lucky.”
Black said Davis' passion for the outdoors is one of his strengths.
“He's passionate about his students and connecting them to the outdoors and great things. He educates them about central Pennsylvania more than any other faculty member,” Black said. “I call him a local genius because he knows the natural environment here better than anyone I know.”
He teaches his students how to be quiet and observe nature, imbuing them with the same awe and reverence that he himself feels and expresses through his poetry.
Davis, who doesn't own a cell phone, has the ability to encourage students to “think broadly and think about the world away from devices and phones,” Black said.
“To my knowledge, he's the only one who has survived (cell phones),” Black said. “He lives simply and tries to minimize disturbance from the outside world. He's the center of nature.”
Mahan describes Davis as a person of action. As proof, she recalls a time three years ago when they were preparing for fall semester and Davis shared a new book they were going to use about Southern Appalachia. When Mahan asked why it couldn't be a book about Northern Appalachia, Davis replied that no such book existed. Mahan suggested they create one themselves.
“Todd is a man of action. He opened his computer and contacted the University Press of Georgia, and they were interested.”
A combined literature and natural history anthology, “A Literary Guide to Northern Appalachia,” will be published in September. The anthology features six plant and animal experts providing descriptions of habitat, distribution and ecosystems; original works by 11 artists; and literary works by 70 poets. It is edited by Todd Davis and his son, Noah Davis, also a nationally known author and Bellwood-Antis High School graduate. Mahan served as natural science editor.
“There's nothing else quite like it,” Mahan said. “It's a beautiful book, and anyone who spends time in the woods will love it.”
Todd Davis will read his poetry with his Penn State Altoona colleague Erin Murphy on October 29th at 7pm in the Titelman Study at Penn State Altoona's Misciagna Center for the Performing Arts.
Davis File
name: Todd Davis
year: 59
Residence: Tipton
family: His wife, Shelley, his son Noah and his wife, Nikea, and their son, Nathan
education: in English from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, in August 1995. She received her M.A. in English from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, in May 1991. She received her B.A., cum laude, in English and Education from Grace College, Winona Lake, Indiana, in December 1987.
employment: Professor of English and Environmental Studies, Pennsylvania State University, Altoona, for 21 years
Awards and Honors: Fred Allen Womack and Frances Sue Zimmerman Womack Book Award from Pennsylvania State University, Altoona for “Winterkill: Poems,” Excellence in Arts and Humanities Award from Pennsylvania State University, Altoona, Chautauqua Editors' Award for the poem “The Last Time My Mother Slept with My Father,” Northern Illinois University College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Alumni Award, Pennsylvania State University, Excellence in Research and Creative Activity Award, and many others.