Lawrence Clark Powell

Lawrence Clark Powell (September 3, 1906–March 14, 2001) was a librarian, literary critic, bibliographer and author of more than 100 books. Powell "made a significant contribution to the literature of the library profession, but he also writes for the book-minded public. His interests are reflected in the subjects that recur throughout his writings; these are history and travel, especially concerning the American Southwest, rare books, libraries and librarianship, the book trade, and book collecting."

Powell was born September 3, 1906 in Washington, D.C. of Quaker parents, G. Harold and Gertrude (Clark) Powell. His father was a general manager of the Sunkist Cooperative, and the family spent Powell's early winters in Riverside.

Powell's family moved to South Pasadena, California when he was five years old, and there he attended public schools, graduating from South Pasadena High School.

He received a B.A. from Occidental College in 1928. According to his obituary in the Los Angeles Times, "During the Depression, he worked as a shipping clerk at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena and for Fowler Books in Los Angeles and local rare bookstores until Los Angeles City Librarian Althea Hester Warren, in Powell's words, 'plucked me out of Jake Zeitlin's bookshop and sent me off to Berkeley.' " Powell later returned to Los Angeles to work for Warren at the Central Library in downtown Los Angeles.

He earned a doctorate from the University of Burgundy in Dijon () in 1932 (having written his dissertation on Robinson Jeffers), and a Certificate of Librarianship from UC Berkeley in 1937.

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