April 10. On this date in 1993, Roger White, writer, editor and "poet laureate" of the Bahá'í community, died in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.

 

April 10. On this date in 1993, Roger White, writer, editor and "poet laureate" of the Bahá'í community, died in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.

Roger White was born June 2, 1929 in Toronto, Canada, to Kathleen Rogers and John White, an Irish Roman Catholic family in Canada. He was the oldest of four children. 

White's parents were not particularly devout Roman Catholics but White attended church regularly; often taking a younger sister with him. The family moved frequently during his childhood but lived longest in Belleville, Ontario. When he left home he moved to Toronto. In his early twenties, he began to doubt the existence of God. It was also during his twenties that White had self published his first volume of poems, "Summer Windows".

In Toronto he encountered the Bahá’í Faith and converted to the Bahá’í Faith in 1951. Shortly after this, White returned to Belleville where he met Helen Owens, who would also convert to the Bahá’í Faith. They were married in 1952 and the next year helped form the first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Belleville.

At this time White was employed as Clerk of the local county court. He progressed to be assistant editor of Hansard, the record of the proceedings of the Canadian House of Commons. The Whites were very active in the Bahá’í community of Ottawa, but the marriage ended in 1962. After that he took a position with the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Vancouver.

The years 1966 to 1969 he spent in Kenya as secretary and assistant to the Hands of the Cause of God of Africa. Next he spent two years in Palm Desert, California as the personal secretary and research assistant for Hand of the Cause of God William Sears. In 1971 he went to Haifa, Israel to work at the World Centre. He remained there until his retirement in 1991.

Among other duties in Haifa, he was responsible for production of volumes XIV and XIX of The Bahá’í World, a reference series that chronicles the growth and development of the international Bahá’í community.

In Haifa, he was encouraged to develop his own writing. Several volumes of poetry as well as some prose resulted. This work established him as the premier poet of the Bahá’í community. In his correspondence he connected poets around the world with each other.

He wrote of real and archetypal Bahá’ís, bringing them alive to new generations, explored the nature of commitment, relations between genders and the contrast between physical appearance and spiritual realities. Individual poems appeared in a variety of literary journals around the world. Other artists have found inspiration in his work for creating work of their own: paintings, drama, dance and discussion of the Bahá’í religion. This brought joy and satisfaction to his heart

After his retirement he moved to Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, and died there on April 10, 1993.

Works

Summer Windows (1947) poetry

Another Song, Another Season (1979) poetry

The Witness of Pebbles (1981) poetry

A Sudden Music (1983) fiction

One Bird, One Cage, One Flight (1983) poetry

The Shell and the Pearl (1984) history

Occasions of Grace (1992) poetry

Notes Postmarked the Mountain of God (1992) poetry

The Language of There (1992) poetry

Forever in Bloom (1992) prose