Despite their scandalous start, Gallagher was distraught by the death of her husband and maintains that he is still the love of her life. Gallagher was left with the rights to all of Ray Carver's work and manages it with an iron fist, making sure that everything is published as he would have wanted.
Not long after her husband's passing, Tess herself was diagnosed with breast cancer - a battle she won in 2009. Gallagher's appears to be littered with common themes: cancer, alcoholism, and poetry. She has came through these challenges alive, stronger, but not unscathed. Tess has two homes, one in Port Angeles and one in Ireland, where she lives with her two dogs Peggy and Hashi, and continues to write. |
Tess Gallagher was born in 1943 in Port Angeles Washington. She was born to a logging family and spent her childhood roaming the forests of the Ozarks. Her father was an alcoholic who died of cancer in 1986, though she and her mother were close.
Gallagher has taught at several universities in Arizona, New York, and Montana. She is a well-known and respected author of poetry and prose, many of her later works were inspired by the death of her husband, writer Raymond Carver. Gallagher and Carver met a writer's conference in Dallas in 1977 and began living together a year later. Carver was married at the time and his divorce from his wife, Maryanne Burk Carver was not final until 1982. Carver was a recovering alcoholic, who had given up drinking just prior to meeting Tess. The two shared a home for ten years but did not marry until early 1988. Carver became Tess's third husband (the second of which was also an alcoholic writer). On August 2, 1988, literally months after their marriage, Ray died of lung cancer. For more information about Tess Gallagher visit the following sites:
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/tess-gallagher -- This site gives an overall summary of Tess's life and accomplishments. It highlights all of her publications, her influences, and her writing style. http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20091005/news/310059993 -- This site gives more information on Gallagher's battle with cancer and how it inspired her to move to Ireland and push through obstacles surrounding the publication of an unedited edition of Carver's work. *To read about her time with Raymond Carver, click on his link above. It is not a biography but it does give insight into Gallagher's romantic life. |