Gene O. Larson

Former Board member (California State Library liaison)
Sacramento, California

Gene Larson worked at the California State Library where, among other duties, he cataloged books donated to the American Haiku Archives.

Here is an overview of some of his many contributions as our liason:

During that time as your liaison, he hosted a haiku podcast with Garry Gay and Patricia's Yuki Teikei group. He also communicated with most of the publishers of the regional haiku groups, requesting items and cataloging them to fill missing back issues in the AHA collection. But primarily, he cataloged the backlog of haiku books as well as the new haiku books arriving at the library. While he cataloged the haiku books, Larson set aside those which were of visual interest. He helped the AHA board put together The Art of Haiku exhibit where those books supplemented the display of the 24 shikishi in the collection. Larson states, "I don't think anyone who's seen them can deny their significance in the history of poetry. And, on my last day at the library, I gave an interview about the AHA to Cap Radio, our local public radio station."

Mr. Larson previously worked at Encyclopaedia Britannica for 23 years as a researcher, editor, and manager of the Library Research Service. That department had an archive of a half million research reports, pamphlets, photographs, and ephemera.

His interest in haiku came by way of others, initially by a San Francisco neighbor, Jerry Kilbride, and later by a coworker at Encyclopaedia Britannica, Charlie Trumbull. His goal was to promote the American Haiku Archives and the California State Library in Sacramento.

He retired from the California State Library in 2018. The American Haiku Archives board and broader haiku community are so grateful for his contributions!