This short story appeared in Tomorrow and here in Best American Short Stories of 1949.
Sestina of the Singing Wind by Robert Gibbons
On my visit to Howard and Sherri I stopped by what may be the USA’s best used book store: Jim Reed Books (https://www.jimreedbooks.com/) in Birmingham, Alabama. Jim helped me find one of Uncle Bob’s works that I did not have.
A sestina (according to dictionary.com) is “a poem with six stanzas of six lines and a final triplet, all stanzas having the same six words at the line-ends in six different sequences that follow a fixed pattern, and with all six words appearing in the closing three-line envoi.”
My brain hurts just thinking through the definition. Wow! What a feat to write such a poem.
This poem appeared in Negative Capability, Vol IV, No III, Summer 1984.
Robert F Gibbons Autobiographical Sketch
This information was published in The Alabama Librarian, January, 1952. Downloaded February 2, 2023 from The Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/sim_alabama-librarian_1952-01_3_1/page/n5/mode/2up?q=%22Robert+Faucett+Gibbons%22.
This is the only reference I have seen noting the short story, Season of Loss, presumably published in Diameter Magazine. Also notable is the list of towns lived in while attending school.
Robert Faucett Gibbons, 1915-1995
The Mule with the Horn-rimmed Glasses
This short story by Robert F. Gibbons was published in Blue Book Magazine, July, 1948.
A Loaf of Bread by Robert Gibbons
This short story was published in The New Republic, 1942; Best American Short Stories, ed. Martha Foley, 1942; and, Spring Harvest: A Collection of Stories from Alabama, ed. Hudson Strode, 1944.
The Barber Who Played in the Series
This short story by Robert Gibbons appeared in Collier’s, October 8, 1949.
A Thing Called Heart by Robert Gibbons
This short story was published in Collier’s on July 26, 1947.
The Poor Rich Uncle by Robert Gibbons
This short story appeared in the December 1942 edition of Esquire Magazine.
1950 US Census: Robert F Gibbons
This census page dated April 5, 1950.
Name | Robert F Gibbons |
---|---|
Age | 34 |
Birth Date | 1916 |
Gender | Male |
Race | White |
Birth Place | Alabama |
Marital Status | Married |
Relation to Head of House | Head |
Residence Date | 1950 |
Home in 1950 | New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana, USA |
Street Name | Sixth St |
Dwelling Number | 70 |
Farm | No |
Acres | No |
Inferred Previous Residence Place | Tuacaloosa, Alabama |
Father Birth Place | USA |
Mother Birth Place | Ireland |
Occupation Category | Other |
Worked Last Week | No |
Seeking Work | No |
Employment Status | No |
Same House | No |
Previously on Farm | No |
Same County | No |
School Completed | C5 |
Grade Completed | Yes |
Weeks Worked | 8 |
Income | N |
Other Income | 4 |
Supplemental Income | 260 |
Relative Income | None |
Relative Other Income | None |
World War II Veteran | Yes |
World War I Veteran | No |
Veteran | No |
Name | Age |
---|---|
Robert F Gibbons | 34 |
Janie M Gibbons | 33 |
Whitfield Gibbons | 10 |
Ann Gibbons | 2 |