My 15 minutes: during Slovenia’s 1995 V-E Day celebration I read Walt Whitman to a national television audience.
Tag Archives: Walt Whitman
V-E Day, Whitman, and My 15 Minutes
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Oh Captain My Captain", Henry V, Slovenia, VE Day, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Roger Ebert’s Kinship with Whitman
In reflecting on death and dying, Roger Ebert turned to literature rather than to film.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Brendan Behan, death, Georges Remi, Henry James, Herzog, Kurt Vonnegut, Leaves of Grass, Roger Ebert, Saul Bellow, Slaughterhouse Five, Tintin Comments closed
Oh, Captain! Is Jeter’s Fearful Trip Done?
Seeing “the Captain” Derek Jeter break his ankle conjures up Whitman’s “captain” poem.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Oh Captain My Captain", Baltimore Ravens, Baseball, Derek Jeter, New York Yankees, Ray Lewis, Sports Comments closed
Depressed about Politics? Read Whitman
Marilynne Robinson turns to Whitman to argue that American Democracy’s greatness lies in how it honors the individual soul.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged America, Democracy, Leaves of Grass, Marilynne Robinson, politics, reading, When I Was a Child I Read Books Comments closed
Teaching Integrity in High School English
Describing a high school English class that he teaches, Carl Rosin draws on the American Transcendentalists as he insists that his students live lives of integrity. His final assignment requires them to put what they have thought and read into action.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer", High School, teaching, This Boy's Life, Tobias Wolff, Transendalism Comments closed
Walt Whitman as Suicide Prevention
At a time when he was feeling depressed and suicidal, Michael Bourne discovered that Walt Whitman could get him to step beyond his “endless, self-constructed maze of Self.”
Whitman & Hughes Hear America Singing
Today, for July 4, I offer up two ultra-American poems. Walt Whitman embraces multitudes” in “I Hear America Singing,” and Langston Hughes, in an addendum, mentions some of those Americans that, in the past, have been forgotten. May we all remember that America is astounding in its willingness to open itself to all people.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "I Hear America Singing", "I Too Sing America", Immigration, July 4, Langston Hughes, Patriotism Comments closed
Reading Whitman: My 15 Minutes of Fame
My 15 minutes of fame came when I read Walt Whitman’s “Oh Captain, My Captain” to the people of Slovenia. The occasion was the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. As today is D-Day, it seems a good time to tell the story.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Oh Captain My Captain", Slovenia, V.E. Day, World War II Comments closed
