Babylon Farm

Bill Gardiner was born at Vinita, Oklahoma on April 13, 1942 and moved to the family home at La Plata, Maryland while his father was in England during World War II. Afterward, his parents purchased a house in Baltimore where Bill attended private schools, culminating in his four years at Loyola University (AB 1964). He won several awards for his poetry, which had begun to flourish. He edited Loyola's Evergreen Quarterly. Determined to be a "scholar and a gentleman" he attended Purdue University where he earned his MA in literature in 1966. In the 1970s, Gardiner moved to Washington, DC which would be his home for several decades. He taught Creative Writing at the American University and continued to publish in small magazines and to give readings. The Library Journal gave his work an excellent review when a collection of his poetry appeared in Proteus Magazine. He received his doctorate in literature from the University of Maryland in 1979. Also seriously interested in art and Roman antiquities and architecture, Gardiner traveled extensively in Italy in 1976 and 1979. In the 1980s and 1990s he taught ancient Greek mythology, Roman civilization, and eventually Shakespeare on Montgomery College's Rockville campus. There he founded The Red Jacket literary magazine. At the end of the 80s he returned to Italy and went on to Greece, both the mainland and the islands. In 1990 at St. Mary's Church in Rockville, next to the grave, Gardiner delivered the memorial address on the fiftieth anniversary of F. Scott Fitzgerald's death. At the turn of the century Gardiner retired and purchased Babylon Farm, an antebellum house in Carroll County, Maryland. On the acreage, the 2nd Corps of the Army of the Potomac resupplied itself for several days before the Battle of Gettysburg. Encouraged by friends and colleagues at McDaniel College he began writing poetry again. This book features selected poems written between summer 2016 and the present. Now, he is at work on his memoir. Gardiner considers himself an epicurean poet and, yes, a "gentleman scholar." He says that the Chinese fortune cookie was right-we do live in interesting times. However, even a reclusive ex-flower child has little choice but to immerse himself in them. Meanwhile, he lives with his beloved cat, "Blackie Perfect."