Agnes Just Reid

Agnes Just was born in 1886 at her parents ranch on the Blackfoot River where she lived her entire life. She attended normal schools and later taught at Cedar Creek. While teaching, Agnes Just met her husband, Robert E. Reid. Together they raised five sons.

In her book, Letters of Long Ago, she tells a story of frontier life. The entire story is told through letters resembling those from her mother, Emma, to Emma’s father in England. In fact, Emma Just Reid read and corrected each page of Agnes’ manuscript as they were taken from the typewriter.

Apart from writing a wonderful book, Agnes Just Reid’s poetry was also noteworthy. Her first book of poems was published in 1916. Many Pocatellians read her verses in Ing’s column, the original “Buzz of the Burg.” Agnes was a chartered member of the Idaho Writers League. Even though she was busy with her membership and her writing, Agnes still found the time to continue teaching.

Mrs. Reid’s death in 1976, a month before her 90th birthday, prompted a group of her friends and admirers in this region to establish the Agnes Just Reid Memorial Scholarship in Creative Writing at Idaho State University. They were assisted by Douglass J. Reid, the son who was still living in the family home, who served as a valuable resource person at the University, and who consented to administer the competition through which the annual award is made.

Letters of affectionate tribute to the Idaho writer accompanied the many contributions to the Scholarship fund which poured in from all over the United States.