Peggy Willis Lyles, 70: Revered haiku poet

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By Rick Badie

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Haiku poets must choose the perfect words to spark the emotions and ideas they hope to convey. And they must do it concisely.

Family photo Peggy Willis Lyles, 70, of Tucker, died Friday.

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Peggy Lyles mastered this Japanese form of poetry. She was revered worldwide, won various awards from organizations and publications, and edited a journal devoted to the art. Her poems drew off the senses and dealt with seasons.

"She was considered by many to be the best female writer of her time of English-language haiku," said Ferris Gilli of Marietta. "There are many wonderful ones, but her reach was broad. Peggy's poems are filled with truth. She drew from her experiences and things around her."

In a 2001 profile for Millikin University, the poet said, "sometimes I simply report what I experience -- a towhee's song coinciding with a fragrant breeze or sleet with an eclipse of the moon. Such natural juxtapositions stir physical and emotional responses in me and are poems ripe for the taking."

On Sept. 3, Peggy Willis Lyles of Tucker died from complications of cancer at the VistaCare Center at Wesley Woods. She was 70. A private memorial service will be held. Bill Head Funeral Homes & Crematory is in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Lyles was born in Summerville, S.C. and grew up in North Charleston, the eldest of three daughters. She earned a bachelor's degree in English from Columbia College and her master's degree from Tulane University.

She taught at Sophie Newcomb College in New Orleans, North Carolina' s High Point College and the University of Georgia. She retired in the 1980s due to complications from Crohn's disease.

For nearly 30 years, the author was a prolific English-language haiku poet, with regular contributions to American and international journals. She's been recognized by the Haiku Society of America, the Museum of Haiku Literature, the New Zealand Poetry Society and the World Haiku Club, among other organizations and journals.

For five years, Mrs. Lyles was poetry editor of Georgia Journal, a regional magazine. And in 2002, the writer became an associate editor of "The Heron's Nest," a haiku journal. She belonged to the Haiku Society of America and helped found Pinecone, a bi-monthly journal of the North Georgia Haiku Society.

In 2002, "To Hear the Rain: Selected Haiku of Peggy Lyles," was published by Brooks Books of Decatur, Ill. Among the poems in the 128-page collection:

"Autumn sea

a little girl's love

of small brown shells."

"Her readership spanned the globe," Mrs. Gilli said. "Her innate talent for evoking emotion and insight with truth, grace and beauty was immeasurable."

Mrs. Lyles and her husband, Julian L. "Bill," had been married 51 years.

"She understood haiku, the depth of it and what makes a good haiku poem," he said. "She has left a legacy of work for us."

Additional survivors include a son, Robert H. Lyles of Atlanta; a daughter, Leslie Lyles Middleton of Jupiter, Fla.; a sister, Cathy Willis of Cincinnati, Ohio and four grandchildren.