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Mark Whalon

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John Mark Whalon[1][2] (June 16, 1886[3][4] – September 14, 1956[2]) was an American poet and author. He was also a close friend of Bill Wilson, founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, and was an influential mentor and confidant to Wilson throughout his life.

Early life and education[edit]

Whalon was born in East Dorset, Vermont in 1886, and lived most of his life in the town.[1] His parents were William C. and Rose Kelleher Whalon,[2] and his father was in the marble business.[5]

In 1904[6] he graduated from Burr and Burton Seminary (later renamed Burr and Burton Academy), a boarding and day school in nearby Manchester, Vermont.[1] Afterwards he attended the University of Vermont.[1][7]

Career[edit]

As a young man, Whalon worked at the town's General Store, worked in the local quarries, worked as a lumberjack, and worked as a lineman for the telephone company.[8][9]

During World War I, he served as an aerial photographer for the 1102nd Aero Squadron.[1]

After the war, he returned to his hometown of East Dorset, and from 1925 to 1950 was the mail carrier throughout the Valley of Vermont.[1]

Whalon also wrote poetry, and by 1928 was publishing his poems regularly in the Vermont daily newspaper Rutland Herald.[1]

In 1933, he published a volume of his poetry, titled Rural Peace.

He also had humorous essays published in Yankee magazine.[10][11][12]

In 1942, he published a semi-autobiographical collection of Vermont-related essays and observations, Rural Free Delivery: Recollections of a Rural Mailman.

In 1943 Whalon was the subject of a Life magazine photo-essay by photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt.[13][1][14] The photo-essay follows Whalon on his mail route – in below-zero winter temperatures and deep snow with at least one impassable road – from his leaving the post office to begin the route to his curling up in an armchair in his cottage after finishing it.[13]

Influence on Bill Wilson[edit]

Whalon and Bill Wilson both grew up in East Dorset, Vermont, and first met in 1908.[9] Nine years Wilson's senior, Whalon was Wilson's closest childhood friend; he introduced him to the world of ideas,[15] and was a lifelong mentor.

Whalon knew everyone in town and showed Wilson the ropes.[8] He also drove Wilson around in the General Store delivery wagon to view the wealthy segment of the region.[8][9] The two friends discussed books and literature, ideas, class, wealth, social and socio-economic strata, political philosophy, local and world politics, spirituality, and democracy.[8][9]

They worked together on summer jobs and helped string the first telephone lines into East Dorset.[16] They hunted and fished together, and shared an interest in Vermont history.[16]

Whalon continued to be a mentor, confidant, counselor, and emotional support to Wilson, even after Wilson became world famous,[8] and as of his death in 1956 was still Wilson's best friend.[16] Wilson later wrote of him, "He was a sort of uncle or father to me."[8][17]

Personal life[edit]

By mid September of 1922[18] Whalon was married to Kathleen Mitchell.[19] They had two sons, Lawrence J. Whalon[2][19] and Cornelius Bayard Whalon.[20] The couple separated in the summer of 1932,[21] and the marriage was annulled in 1933[22] after Kathleen murdered their young son Cornelius in an attempted murder-suicide poisoning.[23]

By the 1950s, Whalon had developed Parkinson's disease.[8] He died at the age of 70 in a nursing home in Bennington, Vermont, in 1956 following a long illness.[2]

At the time of his death he had seven grandchildren.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Mathewson, Jon (Autumn 2019). "Mark Whalon of East Dorset: Postal Carrier and Perceptive Poet" (PDF). Walloomsack Review. 25. Bennington Museum: 36–41. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Mark Whalon, Veteran Mail Carrier, Dies". Rutland Daily Herald. September 15, 1856. p. 11.
  3. ^ "Birth - Male: Walon, John Mark" Vermont, U.S., Vital Records, 1720-1908 for John Mark Whalon.
  4. ^ NOTE: The August 6, 1886 birth date given in Whalon's obituary is an error.
  5. ^ "William C. Whalon". Rutland Daily Herald. November 12, 1926. p. 15. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  6. ^ https://www.newspapers.com/image/466041251/?match=1&terms=%22Mark%20Whalon%22
  7. ^ "1906 Ariel - University of Vermont Yearbook - Burlington, Vermont". JustAJoy.com. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Cheever, Susan (2015). "Chapter Seven: Mark Whalon". My Name Is Bill: Bill Wilson—His Life and the Creation of Alcoholics Anonymous. Simon and Schuster. pp. 37–43. ISBN 9781439121894.
  9. ^ a b c d https://books.google.com/books?id=xRrXDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT37
  10. ^ Hale, Judson D. (1982). New England. Harper & Row. p. 65. ISBN 9780060150334. Here's an example from the 'Vermont diary' of Mark Whalon, as published in a Yankee magazine article back in 1937: 'March 15, 1758: Invented combined boot-jack, apple parer, and wife paddle. Tried contraption – works perfect in all three.'
  11. ^ Whalon, Mark (May 1938). "Yes, Sir, I'm the Rural Mailman!". Yankee. Vol. 4, no. 5. pp. 9–10.
  12. ^ Whalon, Mark (1939). "The Hole In The Doughnut". Yankee. Vol. 6. pp. 13–15.
  13. ^ a b Eisenstaedt, Alfred. "Life Rides the Route of a Rural Mailman in Vermont". Life. January 14, 1943. pp. 94-97.
  14. ^ Cosgrove, Ben (January 16, 2013). "In Praise of . . . Wait for It . . . the U.S. Postal Service". Time. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  15. ^ White, W. L. (1998). Slaying the Dragon: The History of Addiction Treatment and Recovery in America (PDF). Bloomington, Illinois: Chestnut Health Systems Publishing. p. 137. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  16. ^ a b c 'Pass It On': The story of Bill Wilson and how the A.A. message reached the world (PDF). New York, New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Service, Inc. 1984. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  17. ^ https://books.google.com/books?id=IkbXDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT12
  18. ^ https://www.newspapers.com/image/533796159/?match=1&terms=%22Mark%20Whalon%22
  19. ^ a b "Obituaries: Dr. Lawrence Whalon". Rutland Daily Herald. March 14, 1986. p. 10.
  20. ^ "AA History Lovers 2012" (PDF). Silkworth.net.
  21. ^ https://www.newspapers.com/image/659452004/?match=1&terms=Mark%20Whalon
  22. ^ https://www.newspapers.com/image/545737350/?match=1&terms=Mark%20Whalon
  23. ^ https://www.newspapers.com/image/657601873/?match=2&terms=Mark%20Whalon
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