{{short description|American poet and former professor (1934–2022)}} {{Other uses|Walter McDonald (disambiguation){{!}}Walter McDonald}} '''Walter Robert McDonald''' (July 18, 1934 – January 22, 2022, in Lubbock, Texas) was an American poet and former professor.<ref>[http://www.ttup.ttu.edu/BookPages/0896724875.html Texas Tech University Press - The Waltz He Was Born For: An Introduction to the Writing of Walt McDonald<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/ttusw/00204/tsw-00204.html Walter McDonald: An Inventory of His Papers, 1945-2003 and undated, at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.faculty.english.ttu.edu/mcdonald/ |title=McDonald Home Page<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2007-02-03 |archive-date=2009-07-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090717061636/http://www.faculty.english.ttu.edu/mcdonald/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://www.acu.edu/campusoffices/acupress/books/authors/walt_mcdonald.html Walt McDonald – Abilene Christian University<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> He served as Poet Laureate of Texas in 2001. In May 2002, he retired from Texas Tech University as "Paul Whitfield Horn Professor of English" and "Poet in Residence".{{Citation needed|date=March 2026}}
==Career== After graduating from Texas Technological College and service in the United States Air Force in Vietnam, McDonald received a PhD from the University of Iowa.
McDonald's 23 books of poetry—published by Harper & Row (now HarperCollins) and university presses such as Ohio State; Notre Dame; Massachusetts; Pittsburgh; Texas Christian; Texas Tech—include ''Faith Is A Radical Master,'' 'Night Landing,' and ''A Thousand Miles of Stars''.<ref>[http://www.albany.edu/offcourse/summer02/wmcdonald.html Two Poems by Walter McDonald<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Before joining the faculty at Texas Tech University, he was a pilot in the Air Force and also taught at the Air Force Academy.
Some of his experiences as a pilot are reflected in his verses.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/ttusw/00204/tsw-00204.html Author papers at Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University] {{Poets Laureate of Texas}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Walt}} Category:1934 births Category:2022 deaths Category:Abilene Christian University alumni Category:American male poets Category:American members of the Churches of Christ Category:Military personnel from Texas Category:People from Lubbock, Texas Category:Poets laureate of Texas Category:Texas Tech University faculty Category:United States Air Force officers Category:University of Iowa alumni
{{US-poet-1930s-stub}}