Dan's Papers - April 18, 2008 -

Ask yourself this: When was the first time you heard a Dylan Thomas poem? It was the eleventh grade for me. My English teacher at the time, a retired NYPD cop and avid admirer of Thomas, read us the poet's most famous work, "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night," the haunting lines ringing out:

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

His blistering imagery and wise couth are like fire and ice - the life condensed into a mere line. But as history had it, Thomas lived a short and fruitful life that has influenced countless artists (including America's folk king, Bob Dylan) with his lasting impressions. He died in November 1953, at the age of 39 in the Chelsea Hotel in New York City. William Faulkner, E.E. Cummings, Tennessee Williams and other prolific literati attended the funeral and his wife, Caitlin Thomas, escorted his body back to Wales to be buried.

But Thomas lives on today - even after so many years since his last words were put on paper. People have an affinity for Thomas because his writing speaks to the soul - it strikes like lightning - deep and bright with eternal energy.

Although the East End has been a destination for writers and poets - Arthur Miller, Truman Capote, and John Steinbeck - a historic literary "happening" has not occurred in some time.

Until last week. The Hamptons welcomed the 2008 Dylan Thomas Tribute Tour of America, featuring the poet's daughter, Aeronwy Thomas, and Peter Thabit Jones. During the program, Ms. Thomas answers questions about her father and reads his works as well as her own poems, primarily taken from her new book, Burning Bridges. Peter Thabit Jones, poet and editor of the Swansea-based poetry journal, The Seventh Quarry, reads his own work from The Lizard Catchers, and lectures on Dylan Thomas. Jones also focuses on the Welsh devices (cynghanedd) that he uses a background to his poems.

The Hamptons tour was in two parts - part one of the program was given at the home of Jane and Ken Schwartz in North Haven, part two at the Southampton Inn, hosted by Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan of the North Sea Poetry Scene. The tour continues across America - Manhattan, Massachusetts, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Colorado and California. Stanley Barkan, a writer and publisher at Cross-Cultural Communications, who has produced some 350 titles in 50 different languages to date, organized the tour under the guidance of Vince Clemente, a Sag Harbor poet and mentor to many Long Island poets.

Even though Thomas and Jones only spent a short week on the East End, the relationship between Sag Harbor and Swansea, on the south coast of Wales, is more than just a hop across the "pond." Many more literary events are proposed, notably the publication Bridging the Waters: Swansea to Sag Harbor, a first in a series of books co-published by Cross-Cultural Communications and The Seventh Quarry Swansea Poetry Magazine. The books will feature one American and one British poet.

Aeronwy Thomas, the daughter of Dylan and Caitlin Thomas, was born in London and raised in Laugharne, South Wales. She is President of the Dylan Thomas Society, Swansea, patron of the EDS Dylan Thomas Literary Award, President of the Alliance of Literary Societies, and was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Wales, Swansea in 2003. As well as having been published in many literary magazines and anthologies, she has several published books. Ms. Thomas is a petite woman with an enormous sense of humor and wit. It's public knowledge that Bob Dylan (born Robert Zimmerman), was a huge fan of Dylan Thomas and his song "Let Me Die in My Footsteps" is constantly compared to "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night." Then there's the name change, which the singer did, supposedly, because "Zimmerman" wouldn't be catchy enough. Perhaps the ultimate form of flattery. Ms. Thomas wrote about this quirky situation in her poem, "Sorry."

You should be sorry, Bob D.
you poached the name from my dad
Memphis not-near-the-sea
cannot catch sea-son of wave
My dad was Dylan Thomas
that's what I say honest.
Not that I want to brag
Bob Dylan doesn't quite have
The seashell sound of the grave
it's all over now baby blue

Sorry Bob.

Peter Jones, who has been called a modern day Dylan Thomas, has an extensive writing background as the author of eight books of poetry and one prose book. Published in many anthologies from Penguin, Oxford University Press, and British Council Moscow, Jones' poetry has been translated into a dozen languages and one of his most recent poems, "Stones," is written eloquently and is quite moving:

Stones take to each other naturally,
Like a family of sleeping creatures,
The large ones accommodate little ones,
To create a colony of hardness.

The Dylan Thomas Tribute Tour, which began the first week in April, was originally expected to coincide with the release of The Edge of Love, a film about the Thomases starring Sienna Miller as Caitlin MacNamara (Dylan's wife) and Keira Knightly as Vera Philips, a close friend, and Mathew Rhys as Dylan Thomas. Sharman Macdonald (the mother of Keira Knightly) wrote the film, produced by Rebekah Gilbertson and directed by John Maybury. A release date has not yet been determined.

The tour will conclude in New York City with a Dylan Thomas Walking Tour of the City hosted by the Wales International Center on May 4, the day before the poets return to Wales. Video of these poets and many other readings are online at poetryvlog.com.