Hi everyone,
Today at 1:00 I’ll speak to residents, staff, and friends at The Bungalows at Chesterfield Village in Springfield. One who has recently moved there, MARYANN WAKEFIELD, has been one of my closest friends over a lifetime. Her husband, LARRY, and I met in 7th grade at Jarrett Junior High School and were rarely apart for long until he died this year. It was Maryann who recommended me to the program director at The Bungalows, and I gladly accepted.
I was asked what I might talk about. I had to think about that. These people are my age. They’ve lived long lives, raised families, climbed corporate ladders, achieved goals, known love and loss, heartache and joy. Like me, they have aches and pains and many, also like me, probably can’t hear well. I hope someone in the audience can still hear. Otherwise we’ll have a yelling contest at 1:00!
So what should I talk about? Poetry. Never too old for poems. My mother published a slender volume of her poems when she was 95. My friend Maryann is a published novelist. I’ll talk about how to write poems. Why they might want to. I’ll take some examples of mine that reflect on my own experiences. I’ve written about losing a friend, the pleasures of gardening, the love of parents, remembering the past. We all have plenty to think about and to write about. My mother kept a legal pad and pen handy. As she approached 100, she wrote about family history so important details wouldn’t be lost to future generations.
I don’t think I’ll need a hard outline for my talk today. I’ll be among friends. All I’ll need to do is look at them, looking at me, and the words will come.
I wrote an activity story about their school mascot, Oliver the Rat, and in 2005 I wrote a book for a new series of Random House books called MISS GRUBB, SUPER SUB, A WRITE-IN READER, inspired by the teachers at Pittman. I named the school in the book Pittman. The series was subtitled Reading and Writing on Your Own, and I was asked to write the letter to parents explaining the purpose of series that appeared on the inside cover of every book in the series.
Children's Author David L. Harrison's Blog 