Speaking of Phil Levine...

So, I apparently live under a rock most of the time. I totally missed the announcement last month that one of my favorite people in the whole world is now the Poet Laureate of The United States! Phil Levine...gosh. I don't know where to begin. I was twenty-one when this photo was taken. This is at the Levine's apartment in Brooklyn. The wonderful Kate Daniels had suggested I fly there to interview him for The Vanderbilt Review. He agreed to the interview. Vanderbilt bought my plane ticket. I have no idea how all of that happened to me, but it did, and at the time, (thank goodness) I was too young and naive to really understand the true importance of any of it....otherwise I may have thrown up on his tennis shoes. I showed up at their door with flowers for Franny Levine and fresh cannolis for Phil. I had never really interviewed anyone before. We sat and talked for most of the afternoon. He was brilliant, wildly funny, very honest and humble.

I've had the chance to see Phil read several times since then, but we mostly kept in touch through written letters up until a few years ago. It is crazy that I've let so much time go by without writing. I am going to sit down and write to him this week. I'm just so happy for him. What a wild ride of a life. He grew up very poor in Detroit. He worked the night shift at the Chevrolet gear and axle factory....and now he's the Poet Laureate! Amazing & inspiring.