Jon Beck Shank

Jon Beck Shank (1919–1977) was an American Mormon poet and a high school English teacher in New York City.

Biography

Shank studied at Brigham Young University. While at BYU, Shank collaborated with Davis Bitton on a theatrical production.

Shank was a native of Pennsylvania and a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.^[1] Shank died in 1977.^[2]

In 1945, Shank had a collection of his poems published by Alfred A. Knopf. He later taught high school English in New York City, . Among his students was Roger Rosenblatt, who later wrote an essay praising Mormon artists in which he admitted that this view was largely a result of his association with Shank.^[3]

Another of Shank's students was Anne Waldman, who has mentioned him being a scholar of the works of Wallace Stevens.^[4]