Bill Stidger wrote volumes of poems, many of which started their lives as scribbling inside the front and back covers of any book he happened to be reading. Countless of his poems appeared on the front pages of his weekly church bulletins; others were published in church magazines; some were turned into hymns and a limited number made it into either of his two published books of verses. Quality ranged from memorable to doggerel, and Bill was proudest when the great twentieth century poet, Edwin Markham, lauded any of Bill's poems, or spoke approvingly at a particular turn of phrase. Boston University placed a Stidger poem in the cornerstone of its new School of Theology, not to be opened for a thousand years; and even today requests for copies of his poems continue to be received by the School of Theology library, fifty years after his death.
