An attorney for the National Labor Relations Board, Thackery served in the Army and the Navy during WWII (where he participated in invasions of Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa), and practiced law in Pittsburgh and Atlanta before moving to DC in 1960. After his retirement, he earned an MFA in creative writing from American University in 1974 and published a book of poems, The Dark Above Mad River (1992). In addition to poetry, Thackery wrote short fiction and painted in oils and watercolor. He was a member of the Federal Poets.
Joseph C. Thackery
(1915January 19, 2007)