HANOVER - Richard Eberhart, among the foremost American poets of the 20th century and a longtime steward of the craft he loved, died Thursday at his home in Hanover after a short illness. He was 101.

Eberhart enjoyed an international reputation and received nearly every major award that a poet can win, including the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. He wrote more than a dozen books of poetry and verse drama during a career that spanned more than 60 years.

"In his best moments, he was one of the finest American poets,"said Jay Parini, a former colleague who now teaches English at Middlebury College. "He left behind a dozen poems that I think will be part of the permanent treasury of American poetry."

But he was equally admired for mentoring several generations of students and aspiring writers, including many at Dartmouth College, where he taught for nearly three decades.

"He was a great encourager of young poets, including myself,"said Sydney Lea, a former colleague on the Dartmouth faculty who lives in Newbury, Vt. "He certainly helped me to persist. He took me seriously well before I took myself seriously."

When Eberhart became a professor of English and poet-in-residence at Dartmouth College, his alma mater, in 1956, he was already a prominent figure in the literary establishment. But his tastes ranged broadly; he was a champion of Beat poets such as Allen Ginsberg when their counter-culture work was creating a stir within the conservative academy.

At a time when his colleagues were content to talk about dead poets, Lea said, "he was the only member of the faculty who was interested in living poets."

He helped make poetry a vital part of campus life when Dartmouth still offered only scattered writing courses, but no creative writing program.

"His contributions to poetry at Dartmouth are unparalleled," Lea said.

Eberhart and his wife, Betty, opened their Hanover home to a constant swirl of visitors: students, friends, colleagues and many of the great poets of the day, including William Carlos Williams, Robert Frost, Robert Lowell, Wallace Stevens and Ginsberg. Poetry events on campus were followed by a reception at the Eberharts' house - lively gatherings where people could continue their literary conversations. A plaque honoring Eberhart now marks the site, which the couple gave to Dartmouth in 1991.

Eberhart transcended boundaries in a field that could be competitive and cliquey, said Cleopatra Mathis, director of creative writing at Dartmouth. Even in his ninth decade, Eberhart would call Mathis to tell her he'd discovered some wonderful poet and to urge her to consider bringing that person to Dartmouth.

"He had a largesse; it extended to himself, too," Mathis said. "He was a person who never tired of talking about poetry, never tired of bringing people who wanted to write poetry into the fold."

Eberhart had a slightly rumpled, professorial appearance, with his trademark pipe, gray flannels and tweed jacket. His home office was filled with stacks of books and papers, sheaves of poems from other poets seeking advice, and pipe stems and cleaners, said his daughter, Gretchen Cherington of Meriden. (Survivors also include his son, Richard Eberhart of Phippsburg, Maine, and six grandchildren.)

He possessed an immense enthusiasm and lust for life that manifested itself not only his poetry, but also in physical activity, Parini said. Until late in life, he'd cruise up and down the Maine coast, where he spent summers in his wooden boat named Reve, and charge off on cross-country skis during a snowfall. He ate and drank robustly and smoked his pipe to his last days.

"He just had a terrific energy, and you could borrow that energy and use it; he was very generous with it," said Lea, who called Eberhart a "great life force." (next page »)