Raymond Carver was a Depression Era short story writer and poet. His writing style was thought of as minimalistic, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features. Considered by many to be the “child of the Great Depression”, he was born on May 25, 1938 to parents Clevie Raymond Carver and Ella Beatrice Casey. Three years after birth, Carver would move with his family to Yakima Washington, where his father worked at the mills while Carver received an education at local schools. Yakima is where Carver became acquainted with literature, through his readings of Mikey Spillane and various magazines. In 1956, Carver graduated from high school and a year later married 16 year old Maryann Burk. Carver’s first child was born 6 months later, named Christine LaRae. Carver later would say that his children played a major role in his poetry. In the meantime, however, Clevie Carver was suffering a mental and physical breakdown and could no longer support his family, leaving the burden to his son and his new family. Carver took various odd jobs to support his family, but eventually moved on to college in California. In 1961, Carver published his first story, “The Furious Seasons,” in Humboldt State College in Eureka California. Raymond also wrote a play, “Carnations”, which was performed at his college. After graduating from Humboldt and receiving his A.B. degree, took up a job as a textbook editor on July of 1967 where he published a majority of his poetry. A serious alcoholic at times, he still won awards for his writings, including the Guggenheim Fellowship and the Strauss Living Award. Carver’s first major publication was the collection of poems, “Near Klamath”, in 1968. In 1976 another collection titled, “Will You be Quiet Please”, brought Carver’s writing to the national level. Another couple famous writings include “What We Talk about When We Talk about Love” (1981), and “Cathedral” (1983). In 1986, Carver served as the guest editor of “America’s Best Short Stories” and published his first poetry collection, “Ultramarine”. Raymond’s last two publications were written when he underwent a series of full-brain radiation treatments because of lung cancer he had acquired. The story, “Errand”, and the poetry compilation, “Where I’m Calling From” were written in his deathbed. Carver died August 2, 1988.