In Memoriam: Peggy Sue Caudle Vining, 1929-2017

Peggy Sue Caudle Vining, the poet laureate of the state of Arkansas, died on November 26. She was 88 years old and had suffered from cancer.

Vining was a native of Greenfield, Tennessee. She was a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where she majored in elementary education. Vining then taught in the public schools until her retirement in 1993. She also served for 21 years as the director of the Children’s Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Vining was appointed poet laureate of Arkansas in 2003 by then Governor Mike Huckabee. Current Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said “Two lines in her poem ‘Arkansas, The Natural State’ capture my feelings about Arkansas: ‘O Arkansas, which season is your best? Each one seems far more lovely than the rest.’ Arkansas has lost a wonderful poetic ambassador.”