A. Harold Sparks of Newton, Iowa, was an Iowa resident all his life. He was raised on a farm, now a field (above), in southern Iowa, near Clio, Iowa, just a mile from the Missouri border.
He graduated from Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts Degree and from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois with a Master of Ministry Degree. He served as a United Methodist minister in Iowa for 40 years.
Rev. Sparks has been writing poetry most of his life, but it was after he retired that he did most of his writing. He enjoyed learning about poetry and writing on a variety of subjects.
His poetry was published for several years running in Lyrical Iowa, an annual compilation of poems by Iowa poets, and his work appeared occasionally in Park Centre’s monthly newsletter including an 18-month period in which he wrote a different form of poetry each month.
In his retirement he was never at a loss for things to do. He completed two books: “Speculations on Eternity” and his life story, “Can Dreams Come True?” Most recently Rev. Sparks lived at Park Centre, a retirement community in Newton, until his death in 2013. His beloved wife, Beth, died in 2003.