A short life of the author
Charles Erskine Scott Wood (1852–1944) led a remarkably varied American life. A West Point graduate, he fought in the Nez Perce War of 1877 and was present when Chief Joseph surrendered, recording the speech that became one of the most famous utterances in Native American history: “From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”
He left the Army, studied law, and became a prominent attorney in Portland, Oregon, defending anarchists, labour activists, and free-speech advocates. He was also a prolific writer: poet, essayist, and satirist.
Heavenly Discourse
Heavenly Discourse (1927, Vanguard Press) is his best-known work — a collection of satirical dialogues set in heaven, in which God, Jesus, Voltaire, Mark Twain, Rabelais, and other figures debate Prohibition, censorship, war, and other American obsessions. The book was a bestseller and remains an entertaining curiosity of early twentieth-century American satire.
Collecting Wood
Heavenly Discourse (1927, Vanguard Press) first editions bring $30–$80. His poetry collections and earlier writings are scarcer. Wood is collected by scholars of Pacific Northwest history and American radicalism.