John Martin Newkirk — Wild Clover

John Martin Newkirk’s writing was gathered after his death by parents who wanted the book to carry forward the cheer, faith, and usefulness they remembered in him. Wild Clover opens with poems about vocation, blindness, weather, homecoming, love, children, and the ordinary treasures found close at hand. Newkirk grew up in Chicago, studied at Occidental and Berkeley, trained for the ministry at Princeton, and returned to the Altadena foothills after tuberculosis ended the career he had prepared for. He kept reading, writing, preaching when able, and receiving visitors through the years of illness. This edition resets the complete poetry portion of the 1911 memorial volume, retaining its groupings while leaving the prose stories and family tributes available in the source scan.