Here are a few biographical notes on the great voices mentioned in this book that have inspired and encouraged me and so many others over the years.
Read on, friends, read on! We have never read or listened enough.
Galway Kinnell—Lived in New York and Vermont. Kinnell used to say we need to taste poems in our mouths, roll them over and over to appreciate them. Don’t miss his When One Has Lived a Long Time Alone or A New Selected Poems, which reads like a feast. (Introduction)
Abraham Lincoln—Sixteenth American president, whom we miss very much. He didn’t write any books (although so many have been written about him), but we hear his voice in his speeches and should probably all read “The Gettysburg Address” on a regular basis. (Introduction)
William Stafford—Born in Kansas, taught in Oregon, traveled widely, conscientious objector, one of the most essential voices of the twentieth century. The Way It Is, published after his death, brings together many of his most indelible poems. His Every War Has Two Losers, edited by his son Kim after his death, should be chained to a pedestal in the Oval Office. (Introduction and “Woven by Air, Texture of Air” and “Tell Us All the Gossip You Know”)
Peter Matthiessen—Prolific American writer, environmentalist, and activist. Lived on Long Island and loved birding. So many people say their lives have been changed by The Snow Leopard. He preferred his fiction to his nonfiction, though. (Introduction and “Warbler Woods”)
Juna Hewitt—Young artist/student from Yokohama, Japan, and New York. (Introduction)
Freya Stark—British author who lived 100 years and wrote about travel (especially Middle Eastern) and culture. Her book The Journey’s Echo (first American edition in 1964), with sections written in the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s, is particularly haunting to read in the twenty-first century. (Introduction)
Townes Van Zandt—Great singer/songwriter from a historic Texas family, whose most well-known song was “Pancho and Lefty.” But “If I Needed You” and so many other beautiful songs he wrote will never disappear. (Introduction)
Hallie Stillwell—Rancher, historian, lived in Big Bend National Park, Texas, and wrote How Come It’s Called That? Place Names in the Big Bend Country. (“Big Bend National Park Says No to All Walls”)
Ralph Karam—Lebanese-Texan who started a classic Mexican restaurant on Zarzamora Street in San Antonio—restaurant now demolished. (“Little Lady, Little Nugget Brooms”)
Henry David Thoreau—Transcendentalist, friend of Ralph Waldo Emerson, author of the inestimable Walden Pond, lived a short but deep life in Concord, Massachusetts. My friend Joe Coomer owns a pencil made by Henry’s family’s company. Thoreau wrote, “The wind that blows is all that anybody knows.” (“Lost People”)
Aziz Shihab—My father, born in Jerusalem in 1927. Journalist, author of Does the Land Remember Me? A Memoir of Palestine, activist, and public speaker. (“For Aziz,” “Getting Over It,” “Every Day,” “Double Peace”)
Rosa Bonheur—French artist of nineteenth century, especially loved painting animals. She was disruptive in traditional schools. (“Sheep by the Sea, a painting by Rosa Bonheur (1865)”)
Emily Dickinson—One of the most famously beloved, mysteriously reclusive, and succinct American poets there ever will be. A recent compelling volume of her 52 “envelope poems”—written on flaps and fragments—is called The Gorgeous Nothings. (“Emily” and “Tell Us All the Gossip You Know”)
Maya Angelou—Writer of poems, memoirs, also a civil rights activist, dancer, actor, public speaker of tremendous power. Her birth name was Marguerite Annie Johnson. Her second volume of essays is called Even the Stars Look Lonesome. (“Gratitude Pillow”)
John Masefield—British poet who also once worked in a carpet factory in the U.S. Obsessed from childhood with reading; one of his own books was called The Box of Delights. (“Life Loves”)
Elizabeth Barrett Browning—Great British poet, oldest of twelve children, married Robert Browning. Sonnets from the Portuguese contains 44 love sonnets—Number 43 begins with the classic lines, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” (“Life Loves”)
Coleman Barks—Poet, renowned translator, and presenter of Rumi poems; resident of Athens, Georgia. Do not miss his own poems in Hummingbird Sleep. (“Getting Over It”)
Susan Gilbert Harvey—Artist and writer from Rome, Georgia. Tea with Sister Anna: A Personal History is a personal history/magical travel book in one delicious read. (“Getting Over It”)
Grace Paley—Political activist, writer, and teacher. Powerfully outspoken, was a tomboy as a child. The Little Disturbances of Man is one of her classics, humorous and haunting. (“Conversation with Grace Paley, Flight of the Mind Writing Workshop, Oregon”)
Lucille Clifton—Poet and widely beloved professor of poetry. Some of her early poems were published in an anthology edited by Langston Hughes. Her later Blessing the Boats is a great companion to keep nearby. (“Showing Up”)
Caroline Mueller—She and her husband Al operated Mueller Organic Farm (founded 1883), producing lush organic crops in Ferguson, Missouri. She got her first library card in her eighties—had procrastinated all those years, thinking they cost money. (“For Caroline M.” and Al appears in “What Happens Next”)
José Emilio Pacheco—One of Mexico’s foremost poets and writers of prose, also a literary critic, died at age 74. His book El silencio de la luna (The Silence of the Moon) won the Premio Jose Asuncion Silva for the best book in Spanish in any country between 1990–95. (“Tomorrow”)
Paul Durcan—Irish poet, resident of Dublin. Do not miss A Snail in My Prime. (“After Listening to Paul Durcan, Ireland”)
Leo Kottke—Genius acoustic guitarist and singer. Plays both 6- and 12-string guitars. (“We Will Get Lost in You”)
Joni Mitchell—Prolific Canadian singer/songwriter whose album Blue is one of the most beloved and widely memorized albums of all time. (“We Will Get Lost in You”)
Tish Hinojosa—Latina singer born near the river in San Antonio, has also lived in Austin and Germany, sings in both Spanish and English. After the Fair is one of her many stunning albums. (“We Will Get Lost in You”)
Bruce Springsteen—Legendary New Jersey singer/song-writer whose memoir Born to Run is simply exquisite. (“We Will Get Lost in You”)
Robert Johnson—Renowned blues singer who recorded his songs in the Gunter Hotel, San Antonio, Texas. Died mysteriously at twenty-seven. Try his “Walkin’ Blues” when you need some blues. (“We Will Get Lost in You”)
Patty Griffin—Mesmerizing singer/songwriter originally from Maine. You just can’t get much better than Living with Ghosts or 1000 Kisses or Children Running Through. (“We Will Get Lost in You”)
Joanna Newsom—Amazing harpist & singer. Divers is a good place to begin. (“We Will Get Lost in You”)
Sara Thomsen—Singer/songwriter, founder of Echoes of Peace Choir, and chicken-raiser living near Duluth, Minnesota. You also can’t get much better than Winter Wanderings, Somewhere to Begin, or Everything Changes. (“We Will Get Lost in You”)
James Tate—Elegant, humorous American poet who lived and taught in Amherst, also collected quilts. Distance from Loved Ones is an amazing book. (“James Tate in Jerusalem”)
Langston Hughes—African American poet, novelist, activist, leader of the Harlem Renaissance though originally from the American Midwest. The Big Sea is his fascinating autobiography. (“Train Across Texas” and mentioned in “What Happens Next”)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow—Classic American poet who lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and had six children. His house museum is one of the best literary sites in the nation. Many people grew up reading Evangeline and The Song of Hiawatha. (“Longfellow’s Bed”)
Walt Whitman—Often called the “Father of Modern American Poetry.” His Leaves of Grass has appeared in countless editions—the White House once displayed a compact first edition in a glass case. (“Walt Whitman’s Revisions” and “Tell Us All the Gossip You Know”)
Jack Kerouac—Deeply compelling favorite writer of millions of readers; novelist best known for On the Road, but many found The Dharma Bums a better book. He believed in spontaneous prose for a good part of his writing life. (“Rest and Be Kind, You Don’t Have to Prove Anything” and “Tell Us All the Gossip You Know”)
Stella Kerouac—Last wife of Jack Kerouac, Greek heritage, originally from Lowell, Massachusetts. She wrote good handwritten letters. (“Rest and Be Kind, You Don’t Have to Prove Anything”)
Allen Ginsberg—American poet often considered one of founders of the Beat Generation, highly anti-militaristic and anti-materialistic. His Howl broke the world wide open. (“Rest and Be Kind, You Don’t Have to Prove Anything”)
Peace Pilgrim—Mysterious wanderer and lecturer about world peace and inner peace who would not give her real age or name while she walked on her endless speaking tour thousands of miles across the country. She never wrote a book, but after her death (oddly in a car accident, though for many years she would barely get in a car) her friends compiled some of her talks in a book anyone may obtain free online from the Friends of Peace Pilgrim website (www.peacepilgrim.org). We need it. (“Peace Pilgrim’s Pocket”)
C. D. Wright—American poet originally from Arkansas; Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets at the time of her death. Do not miss her roundly celebrated and profoundly original One With Others. (“C. D. Stepped Out”)
Robert Louis Stevenson—Scottish writer whose poems were precious parts of many childhoods worldwide and whose novels quickly became classics. A Child’s Garden of Verses has been in my custody since I was six—gripped tightly, same edition. (“True Success”)
Robert Bly—American poet from Minnesota who founded the “Great Mother” summer poetry camps. A legendary energetic guide; his Silence in the Snowy Fields opened up new, crisp worlds for so many poetry readers. (“Tell Us All the Gossip You Know”)
Leonard Nathan—American poet, critic, and professor of rhetoric at UC Berkeley. See his Dear Blood, which makes every moment feel more dear. (“Tell Us All the Gossip You Know”)
Mary Oliver—American poet whose contemplative, resonant work is deeply influenced by the natural world. Try New & Selected Poems or Why I Wake Early. (“Tell Us All the Gossip You Know”)
Ernest Hemingway—American writer who lived many places, including Cuba and Idaho. A Moveable Feast is a favorite. (“Tell Us All the Gossip You Know”)
Ruth Stone—Wondrous poet and teacher, originally from Virginia, later of Vermont. Second-Hand Coat is brilliant. (“Tell Us All the Gossip You Know”)
Josephine Miles—Poet and Professor at UC Berkeley for many years. Go with To All Appearances: Poems New and Selected. (“Tell Us All the Gossip You Know”)
Genine Lentine—Writer, educator, passionate gardener living in San Francisco. See The Wild Braid: A Poet Reflects on a Century in the Garden, which she made with centenarian poet Stanley Kunitz when she worked as his literary assistant in the last years of his life. (“Tell Us All the Gossip You Know”)
William Burroughs—Writer, painter, performer, who was open about his use of drugs. Naked Lunch, his novel from 1959, contained small stories he said could be read in any order. (“Tell Us All the Gossip You Know”)
Ken Kesey—Writer, countercultural figure, wrote One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which became a movie, and many other books. He said, “I was too young to be a beatnik and too old to be a hippie.” (“Tell Us All the Gossip You Know”)
William Goyen—Writer of short stories and novels who grew up in southeast Texas but lived in New York and Los Angeles. House of Breath is a classic book of stories. (“Tell Us All the Gossip You Know”)
Mark Twain—American writer and humorist whose real name was Samuel Clemens. He signed at least one book with “Be good and you will be lonesome.” I held it in my own hands. It’s rather astonishing that he insisted his massive three-volume Autobiography of Mark Twain not be published till one hundred years after his death. Has anyone else ever done that? (“Tell Us All the Gossip You Know”)
Thomas Edison—Hello, lightbulbs! Edison did not write books, but self-published a newspaper at age fourteen and wrote many papers now archived at Rutgers University. Quite a few other people have written books about him. (“Tell Us All the Gossip You Know”)
Daria Donnelly—Brilliant educator and writer on children’s literature for Commonweal; lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (“Tell Us All the Gossip You Know”)
Garth Williams—Illustrator of classic children’s books, including Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little. He once ate dinner at our table. We were spellbound. (“Tell Us All the Gossip You Know”)
John Steinbeck—American writer whose book The Grapes of Wrath won the Pulitzer Prize. (“Tell Us All the Gossip You Know”)
Edward Said—Palestinian scholar, professor, and writer who taught for many years at Columbia University. His Out of Place: A Memoir is a classic of literature of exile. Possibly the smartest person I ever met. (“One State”)
Chief Joseph—Succeeded his father as leader of the Nez Percé tribe, who were indigenous to the Wallowa Valley in Oregon and then cast out. His famous and brief “I will Fight No More Forever” speech should be read regularly by all people. (“My Name Is . . .”)
Yehuda Amichai—Israeli poet, born in Germany, who lived in Jerusalem and was considered Israel’s greatest modern poet. Get The Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai. (“Double Peace”)
Samih al-Qasim—Palestinian journalist and poet, crucial “resistance voice” of Israel’s Arab community. (“Break the Worry Cocoon”)
Vera B. Williams—Beloved American artist and writer of children’s books, including A Chair for My Mother. (“Please Sit Down”)
Dorothy Stafford—Oregon hero, mother of four, friend of thousands, educator, was married to poet William Stafford. She collected magical sayings of her children when they were small and made beautiful limited-edition books. (“For the Birds”)
John O’Donahue—Beloved Irish writer and contemplative speaker who wrote many books including Anam Cara. “When you cease to fear your solitude, a new creativity awakens in you.” (“Bowing Candles”)
Van Morrison—Brilliant international music icon for more than 50 years; from Belfast, Northern Ireland. One favorite song: “When Heart is Open” from his Common One album. (“Black Car”)
Frankee Liddy—Resident of Belfast, Northern Ireland. He writes, “I realized I had only 1 life. This is it.” (“Belfast”)
Ryushin Paul Haller—Zen Teacher and former longtime co-abbot at the San Francisco Zen Center. His Dharma Talks, which one may listen to free online, are immense gifts of spirit and wisdom. (“Belfast”)
Jamyla Bolden—Child of Ferguson, Missouri, life cut short by random bullet. (“To Jamyla Bolden of Ferguson, Missouri”)
Carl Allwardt—My maternal grandfather, devout Lutheran, who lived for decades on Union Boulevard in St. Louis. (“Ring”)
John Muir—Born in Scotland, founder of the Sierra Club, hero of American hiking trails, forests, natural preserves, wilderness; don’t miss My First Summer in the Sierra. (“Hummingbird”)
Lyda Rose Martin—Daughter of poet Jenny Browne and photographer Scott Martin. (“Hummingbird”)
M. C. Richards—Educator, creator of pottery and poems, was part of the first “happening” with John Cage; her book Centering in Pottery, Poetry, and the Person was a life-changer. (“Where Do Poets Find Images?”)
Mary Endo—Cut hair in same shop in Honolulu for a really long time. Some of her customers said she was the one person in their lives they could always talk to without shame. (“Barbershop”)
Malala Yousafzai—Youngest person ever to win Nobel Peace Prize; Pakistani activist for justice and female education. Valiantly survived assassination attempt. (“Moment of Relief”)
Michael Nye—My photographer/documentarian husband—see www.michaelnye.org; forthcoming—his first book from Trinity University Press. (“Unbelievable Things”)
Howard Peacock—Was a lifelong eco-activist and writer who helped create the Big Thicket National Preserve in east Texas—battled many big lumber companies in the process. (“Unbelievable Things”)
Roger Ebert—Famous film critic who lived in Chicago; see Life Itself, a 2014 documentary about his life. (“Unbelievable Things”)
Adriana Corral—Artist of haunting installations, performances, and sculptures, San Antonio, Texas. (“All We Will Not Know”)
Micaela Miranda—Director at the Freedom Theatre, a community theater and cultural project in Jenin Refugee Camp, Palestine—“Resistance through Art.” (“Loving Working”)
Doris Duke—Heir to great fortune, envisioned Shangri La (Honolulu) when she was 22, worked on it all her life. Collector, philanthropist. (“Her Father Still Watching”)