Published: August 25, 2008 09:49 am      

Acclaimed writer and teacher, Stoney Hardcastle, dies

Veteran novelist, newspaper columnist and journalist Stoney Hardcastle is being remembered not only for his own work, but for the influence he had on others through the writing programs he taught.

Hardcastle, 88, of Wilburton, died on Friday at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa.

Hardcastle had become ill on Aug. 5. After a brief stay at the Latimer County General Hospital in Wilburton, he had been transported to St. Francis Hospital.

Hardcastle’s wife, Sue Hardcastle, said he had been in the intensive care unit at St. Francis for 10 days before being transferred to a regular room at the hospital. He died not long afterwards.

Funeral services are set for 2 p.m. on Wednesday at the First Baptist Church in Wilburton.

In addition to the books he authored himself, Hardcastle is also well-known for the writing classes he taught at Eastern Oklahoma State College.

Hardcastle grew up in the Stigler area, but like many others of his generation, he left the area to find work elsewhere.

He returned to the area in 1976 after he retired from his first career in business and moved to Wilburton.

Soon afterwards, Hardcastle launched his creative writing classes at Eastern Oklahoma State College. Hardcastle’s course soon became nationally known in the creative writing field.

“That was a second career for him,” Sue Hardcastle said.

Although Hardcastle started out teaching novel and short story writing, he later taught classes in non-fiction as well. He would help aspiring writers in whatever endeavor they tried, including journalism and magazine writing.

Hardcastle proved a successful teacher in part because he had already published novels and articles himself by the time he started teaching.

His published novels included “Law of the Gun,” “Oakie Joe” and his best-known historical novel,” The Legend of Belle Starr.”

He also wrote and published his “Oakie Dictionary,” which has remained in print since its first publication.

Hardcastle finally retired in 1989. He still remained active as a newspaper columnist and in Democratic Party politics in Latimer and Pittsburg counties.

Some of the writers who took Hardcastle’s classes and later publsihed books of their own were poet Butch Rose and McAlester novelist Mary Ann Kerl.

“He liked to see his students get published,” Sue Hardcstle said. “That made him so happy.”

He helped countless writers become published, not only in Oklahoma, but also in Texas. He helped launch many careers, not only for aspiring authors, but for journalists as well.

Thanks, Stoney.

We’ll miss you.

Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.