Sad to learn about the death of poet Jack Collom out in Colorado where he had lived for many decades. He always used to point out that he was older than Ted Berrigan, so I knew quite well he was older. I have so many memories—of him calling me late at night from Idaho, where he was teaching & lonely. He would sing & yodel & I would be half-asleep. Of going bird-watching at Jamaica Bay with Jack, Doug Oliver, & Shelley Kraut. They were birders & I had a car. Of poetry being at the center always. Of how useful his Teachers & Writers books were in every class & workshop I ever taught. How kind & encouraging & responsive he was. I hadn't talked to him much in the last couple of years, but as I've been typing up poems, I have found several with or for or about him.
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