Relationships
In 1965, at age 20, Dillard married her creative writing professor, Richard Dillard.[12][2] In 1975, they divorced amicably and she moved from Roanoke to Lummi Island near Bellingham, Washington.[2]
In 1976, she married Gary Clevidence, an anthropology professor at Fairhaven College, and they have a child, Cody Rose, born in 1984.[2][22] Dillard and Clevidence remained married until 1988.[22]
In 1988, Dillard married historical biographer Robert D. Richardson, whom she met after sending him a fan letter about his book Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind.[2][8][23] They were married until Richardson's death in 2020.
Religion
After college Dillard says she became "spiritually promiscuous." Her first prose book, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, makes references not only to Christ and the Bible, but also to Islam, and Judaism, Buddhism, and Inuit spirituality. Dillard for a while converted to Roman Catholicism around 1988. This was described in detail in a New York Times overview of her work in 1992.[2]
In 1994, she won the Campion Award, given to a Catholic writer every year by the editors of America.[24] In her 1999 book, For the Time Being, she describes her abandonment of Christianity, describing the supposed absurdity of some Christian doctrines, while stating she still stays near Christianity, and continuing to valorize Catholic writer Teilhard de Chardin. Her personal website lists her religion as "none."[16]
Philanthropy
Sales of Dillard's paintings benefit Partners in Health, a Boston-based nonprofit international health organization founded by Dr. Paul Farmer.[25] Dillard's art is available on her website.
