Esther Shephard

Esther Shephard (; July 29, 1891 – February 10, 1975) was an American folklorist, poet, playwright, literary critic, and educator known for her collection of tales about the legendary figure Paul Bunyan.

Early life and education Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1891, Esther Maria Lofstrand's parents were John August Lofstrand and Justina Lofstrand (née Lindberg). The 1900 census lists the family as farmers in Stanchfield, Minnesota, a township approximately north of Minneapolis.

Her first employment was as a public school teacher in Minnesota, but she moved to Montana sometime after 1910 to teach in the town of Belgrade.

Following her husband's death, Shephard moved to Washington state, where she began studying at the University of Washington. She received a BA in 1920, an MA in 1921, and a PhD in 1938. Her PhD dissertation examined the works of nineteenth-century American poet Walt Whitman. Esther Shephard died in San Francisco on February 10, 1975, at the age of 83.

Career Shephard held teaching posts at Reed College in Portland, Oregon (1921–1922); the University of Washington, Seattle (1928–30); and Lower Columbia College, Longview, Washington (1934–1935). In 1939, she joined the English Department at San Jose State University, where she taught until 1959. She was a regular contributor to academic journals. The conceit that informed the dissertation, and later the published book, was that Whitman created an elaborate literary persona, a "vagabond poet, dressed in laborer's garb". Shephard's perspective was disputed by literary critic Stephen Rachman, who finds her argument "so extreme that it colors her judgment of Leaves of Grass to the point that she has virtually no sympathy or ear for Whitman and his work".

Folklore Shephard's classic work is Paul Bunyan, a collection of logging tales initially published in a limited edition by the McNeil Press in 1924. According to a laudatory review in the Washington Historical Quarterly, Shephard began investigating the tall tales of Paul Bunyan in Washington state as part of her master's thesis on frontier literature. The reviewer stresses that "Shephard's interest in the subject of the mightiest of lumberjacks and his marvelous feats has led her to the acquisition of what, there can be little doubt, is the most complete collection of Paul Bunyan yarns extant". American artist Rockwell Kent embellished the text, with 24 full-page illustrations and numerous others.

Shephard further explored folklore through her retelling of the Chinese legend The Cowherd and the Sky Maiden, published in 1950. A review praised "the author’s sense of color and drama" as well as her ability to embody the "stylized poetry so typical of Oriental poems". The book featured black and white Chinese drawings. American composer John Weedon Verrall translated the work into an opera, which premiered at the University of Washington on January 17, 1952.

Publications Paul Bunyan. Seattle: McNeil Press, 1924; reprinted with illustrations by Rockwell Kent, New York: Harcourt Brace, 1941.

Pierrette's Heart, A Play in One Act. New York: Samuel French, 1924.

(Contributor) Golden Tales of Our America. May Lamberton Becker, ed. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1929; 1963.

Poems. C.E. Shephard, 1938.

Walt Whitman's Pose. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1938.

The Cowherd and the Sky Maiden; A Retelling, in Verse, Decorated with Rhyme and Assonance of an Ancient Chinese Legend, With an After-Piece Explaining the Background of the Legend. Santa Cruz, California: Pacific Rim Publishers, 1950.

An Oriental Tale and a Romantic Poet. Santa Cruz, California: Pacific Rim Publishers, 1967

Selected Poems, Santa Cruz, California: Pacific Rim Publishers, 1968.