Jane Kenyon’s Husband

I just found out that my favourite poet’s husband (my favourite poet being Jane Kenyon, who has passed away from leukemia in 1995) Donald Hall, another one of my favourite poets and essayists, is the US poet laureate this year. I am very pleased. I read about it in a two page article in the New York Times, published today, July 6 06. (Sorry I am not bothering to find out how to link to it). (Note: I am not in anyway trying to take away from Donald Hall himself by refering to him as Jane Kenyon's Husband; actually Jane was often, as I have read, referred to as Donald Hall's wife, instead of poet, as Donald is older than she and had published first).

There is two lovely pictures in the article; one of many of the books in his New England home; I immediately felt the sense of “yes, this is what I want”… an old feeling place, with a bit of austere New England, and books everywhere. Yes, I love books.

I picked up three new to me books today – that a fellow classmate was giving away – and one of them is an early edition of Steinbeck’s The Wayward Bus, published in 1947. I admit I had not heard of this book before, and wonder if it is in print. (I can find out easily, since I do have LIS (library) training. It reminds me that I never did finish reading travels with charley which I was reading a few summers ago when I was shelving at a public library in the States. I think I took it with me to London to Library School, but it fell to the side, as the course work was quite heavy.

I can’t wait to have all of my books in one place…

Back to Donald Hall – his book of essays, Seasons at Eagle Pond, is a wonderful collection; also his book lifework, a prose work about his life as writer, is quite good. FYI, he wrote the children’s book ox-cart man.

So many good books; I eagerly await the day DV when I will have all of mine together (including the 4 I got today that someone did not want)… : )