One of my favorite authors, Wendell Berry, has just been awarded the Dayton Peace Prize. Berry is an septagenarien who has been writng poems and stories for a very long time. He says:
"We are violent in our use of land. ...The most direct way, which is invariably the most violent way, to get what we want is the accepted way."
In his writings, he has pointed to strip-mining of mountaintops for coal, clearing forests for timber and putting chemicals into the soil for agriculture. He took part in a 2011 sit-in at the Kentucky governor's office in protest of strip-mining.
"As a poet and fiction writer, my goal was to write a good poem and tell a good story. That's complex enough. A lot of knowledge, a lot of study, a lot of work goes into that, I have as a storyteller, and somewhat as a poet, been stuck with the story of the decline of rural life in all its aspects during my lifetime" He is a fine writer and a very wise man. He deserves this honor.
2 comments:
June -- I think I have read just about everything that Wendell Berry has wrote.. He awakens our mind both poetically and culturally. Fine post. ~~ barbara
Thanks, Barbara, he's a wonderful writer and a very admirable man.
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