There's a centenarian and a soon-to-be centenarian, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated reporter who was an applicant for the NASA Journalist in Space Project, a former NFL running back for the New York Jets on teams with Joe Namath, a world traveler who's been to the Arctic and Antarctica, a Hungarian refugee whose family escaped the Holocaust and, later, Soviet rule, a former female U.S. Marine who's a Poet Laureate, a philosopher who had talk show host Dick Cavett's father as a teacher and got a ventriloquism lesson from Johnny Carson, a poet who met President Bill Clinton, acted with future Love Boat captain Gavin MacLeod and slept on a resort mattress once graced by Marilyn Monroe and Joltin' Joe DiMaggio, and a co-founder of Doctors Without Borders U.S.A. who was in the first class of women - and, first women's basketball player - at Princeton University.
And that's just some of the 13 poets whose life experiences and keen observations are transformed into a refreshing collection of surprising, often breathtaking, poetry.
Edited by Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist and author John A. Valenti 3rd and former Nassau County Poet Laureate Evelyn Kandel, this collection includes their work and the work of a group of inspiring amateur poets: Hattie Abbey, Hank Bjorklund, Victoria Bjorklund, Lila Edelkind, John Lange, George Pafitis, Gladys Thompson Roth, Sheila Saferstein, George Strausman, Susan Aster Wallman and Judith Zilberstein. This amazing collection of poets met in a class taught by Kandel, a former U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant who appeared on a 1952 U.S. Postage Stamp featuring "Women in Our Armed Services." Quite simply, their work inspires, covering a wide array of subjects -- love, war, life, death, age, affliction, homelessness, gun violence, genocide, philosophical debate and a range of lighter, off-the-cuff, everyday fun and amusement.
Kandel, Evelyn: - "Evelyn Kandel served as Nassau County Poet Laureate from 2019-2022. While the pandemic made it difficult for in-person readings and library time with children, she continued her adult poetry class using Zoom. Author of six books of poetry, her most recent, Let There Be Clouds, includes her photographs of the sky - taken daily for a month, each accompanied by a poem. Her work has appeared in journals and anthologies, most recently in COVID, edited by Gayl Teller, and Paumanok Transition, edited by Kathaleen Donnelly. During the Korean War Kandel became one of the earliest women to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps, attaining the rank of Sergeant. In 1952, she was one of four women - Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines - to represent the military on a U.S. Postage Stamp titled Women in Our Armed Services. She also was featured on recruiting posters. "They said, 'Hey, gorgeous. We Want You!'" Kandel recalled. Post-military, Kandel studied at Columbia University on the GI Bill, then worked as an art teacher and department head at exclusive Portledge School, retiring in 1999. She turned from painting to small sculptures and poetry during a residency in Saratoga, then began focusing on poetry alone. Since 2009 she has taught Writing Poetry and has since inspired countless poets. This is her fourth class anthology."
Valenti 3rd, John A.: - "John Valenti is a national award-winning journalist who has worked for Newsday since 1981 and appeared on hundreds of radio and TV shows, including NPR and Good Morning America. He headed the 1997 Newsday investigation into New York Islanders owner John Spano, resulting in a federal fraud conviction, earning First Place in the Associated Press Sports Editors national competition for Best Investigative Reporting and inspiring the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 episode Big Shot. Author of the critically acclaimed Swee'pea (Simon & Schuster / Atria Books) about New York City playground basketball star Lloyd (Swee'pea) Daniels, Valenti was part of a two-man team whose investigation of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas led to the resignation of coach Jerry Tarkanian - and a death-penalty ban from the NCAA Tournament. Honored multiple times by The Society of the Silurians, Valenti's work also has been submitted ten times for Pulitzer Prize consideration. He once posed as a limo driver to get a story, was threatened by a mob associate out of Wise Guy and has interviewed a wide array of subjects, including Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson, Mario Andretti, Wayne Gretzky, Steffi Graf, Pele, Maradona and the first two men to walk on the Moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. A traveler, he's been to 45 states and more than 20 countries. A candidate for the 1986 NASA Journalist in Space Project and graduate of Oceanside (N.Y.) High School and Hofstra University, he has been writing poetry most of his life."
