GIBSON, Jon L. 1943-

PERSONAL: Born March 22, 1943, in La Salle Parish, LA; son of Claude Lee (an oil field gauger) and Kathren (an artist, musician, and secretary; maiden name, Maxwell) Gibson; married Mary Sellers (an elementary school teacher), February 8, 1965; children: Erin Gibson Faherty. Ethnicity: "Southerner." Education: Southern Methodist University, Ph.D., 1973.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, University Press of Florida, 15 Northwest 15th St., Gainesville, FL 32611. E-mail—jgibson@bayou.com.

CAREER: Archaeologist specializing in prehistory and the southern United States, 1967—. University of Louisiana—Lafayette, professor of anthropology, 1969-2001, distinguished professor, 1975. Carved Trowel Archaeology Ltd., president.

MEMBER: Society for American Archaeology, Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Louisiana Archaeological Society (editor, 1974-84; president, 1976-77), and other state organizations.

AWARDS, HONORS: University of Louisiana—Lafayette, Sigma Xi Research Award, 1977; Owls and Trowels Award from the Poverty Point field school, 1991; James A. Ford Award for outstanding contributions to Louisiana archaeology, Louisiana Archaeological Society, 1986; Blue Key Award, Alumni Association of University of Louisiana—Lafayette, 1997.

WRITINGS:

Ancient Monuments of the Ouachita Valley in Louisiana, National Park Service (Washington, DC), 1996.

Born and Raised on Castor Creek, La Salle Arts Council (La Salle Parish, LA), 1999.

The Ancient Mounds of Poverty Point: Place of Rings, University Press of Florida (Gainesville, FL), 2001.

Big Mound Power, University of Alabama Press (Tuscaloosa, AL), 2003.

Contributor of nearly 200 articles to international, national, regional, and local periodicals.

WORK IN PROGRESS: An Ol' Geezer's Primer on Lower Mississippi Prehistory.

SIDELIGHTS: Jon L. Gibson told CA: "When I was a wee lad, I found an Indian arrowhead and was smitten with archaeology, a passion fanned by my grandma's stories about our Choctaw heritage. So, at the wide-eyed age of six, I became an archaeologist.

"Pure pleasure doesn't pay well in archaeology, and I managed to find a job teaching archaeology and American Indian subjects at a Louisiana university. I always upheld research as the flip-side of teaching and writing as the flip-side of research; and when you're obliged to write, you ought to write so that readers understand what you're saying first time around and don't get turned off by dullness.

"I write like I feel and, for better or worse, like I talk. And always my words come from being wide-eyed."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Choice, September, 2001, review of The AncientMounds of Poverty Point: Place of Rings.