Death and Memorial
Vernon had developed a serious heart condition which he made light of, insisting on playing his beloved tennis and squash with his usual vigour. He died on 8 October 1967, aged 61, playing tennis in Seattle where he had gone to teach a course in Modern Poetry at the University of Washington.
His body was returned to Britain, and was buried in Gower, at St Mary's church, Pennard. A small granite memorial to him stands at Hunt's Bay, Gower, on which are inscribed two lines from his poem, 'Taliesin in Gower'; 'I have been taught the script of stones, and I know the tongue of the wave'.
A portrait of Vernon Watkins by his friend Alfred Janes may be seen in the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea. A group portrait of the Kardomah Boys by Jeff Phillips was unveiled at Tapestri Arts Centre in Swansea in June 2011. Featured in the painting are Vernon Watkins, John Pritchard, Dylan Thomas, Daniel Jones and Alfred Janes. The picture is based on a BBC Radio Times front cover from October 1949.
Most of Watkins's manuscripts are held by the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.
Read more about this topic: Vernon Watkins
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