By Alabama Public Radio
Tuscaloosa, AL – A former Alabama poet laureate has passed away.
Helen Friedman Blackshear died yesterday at the age of 92. Blackshear's writing career brought her numerous honors, including four years as Alabama's poet laureate between 1995 and 1999. She also wrote or edited about a dozen books, including collections of poetry, memoirs, history and fiction. Her biography of the poet Sidney Lanier will be released next month by Montgomery-based NewSouth Books, which has also published four of her previous works.
Blackshear also was a Poet of the Year for the Alabama State Poetry Society, and served in numerous writers' and arts groups.
Tentative services are being planned for Saturday in Montgomery. Blackshear will be buried next to her husband.