Clemens Starck (b. 1937) is an accomplished poet whose first published collection, Journeyman's Wages, received the Oregon Book Award for Poetry in 1996. Starck published the book at the age of fifty-seven, after thirty-six years of writing in near anonymity. He was also working as a carpenter for the OSU Physical Plant at the time, a job that he held for eighteen years and from which he retired in 2005. Over the course of his life, Starck traveled broadly and was employed, variously, as a journalist, ranch hand, construction laborer, and merchant seaman. In addition to Journeyman's Wages, Starck has released three additional volumes of his verse and has recorded two CDs of his poetry set to music. His interview focuses on his broad experience in a variety of workplaces, his development as a writer, and his memories of OSU. At multiple points throughout the session, Starck also reads selections of his work, both published and unpublished.

Life history interview conducted by Janice Dilg for inclusion in the Oregon State University Sesquicentennial Oral History Collection (OH 26), Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Oregon State University Libraries.