Sincere and honest; a man who perseveres;
A midwestern American; a gem;
The grandson, on both sides, of pioneers
Who put their young to work to toughen them.

So did his parents: at the age of nine
He started on a long career of work;
Hardworking and resourceful in each line;
Enthusiastic for his handiwork.

“During the winter months while I was going to school.
I delivered groceries for a general store
And used up a great deal of wrapping paper
Making drawings.” These are his very own words.

Not suited to succeed at illustration,
Yet passionate the way he chose to draw,
His realism won him admiration
For the “brute actuality” he saw.

Those who would swear that artists are made, not born,
Need only study Wickey’s life to be foresworn.

Copyright (2006) by Arnold Cantor.
All rights reserved.

[Completed September 5, 2006, with the introduction of a quotation from
his own writings! I have included this sentence from Zigrosser’s essay
because it is needed to indicate Wickey’s early fascination with drawing,
and because of its natural poetic style, which fits so easily in with my
stanzas. The phrase ‘brute actuality’ was by Zigrosser, who, in assessing
prints in a series of Bathers and Wrestlers, wrote: “The
figures are neither graceful nor beautiful, but their brute actuality,
their tactile solidity, are overwhelming!”]