Poet Nancy Wood Dies: Award-winning poet, author, and photographer Nancy Wood died March 12, 2013 in Santa Fe, NM. She was 76. Wood devoted her career to exploring the culture and lives of the Native American people of the Southwest, and often found herself inspired by the New Mexico wilderness. In 1993, she won both the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award and an International Reading Association Teacher’s Choice Award for Spirit Walker, an illustrated book of poetry that delves into the Taos Pueblos Indians. Wood’s work, both for adults and children, was marked by a strong sense of spirituality. Her picture book Old Coyote, a poignant, contemplative tale illustrated by Max Grafe, depicts the last moments of an aging coyote looking back on his life and preparing for his impending death. Inspired by her seven-year-old grandson’s sorrow over the loss of his dog, Wood successfully set out to present a difficult subject with both honesty and compassion.
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