But not for lack of trying. Today I found myself at the pre-BEA Javits Center, which, compared to what it’ll be tomorrow, was caverously empty. Upstairs there were just a handful of people scattered around the press room upstairs.
To my surprise, these few included David Kipen, who must be the nicest Director of Literature at the NEA. Ever. He jumped up to say hi, although he seemed to be in the middle of a meeting. With a guy who he said was his boss.
It was a while later that I realized that meant the man sitting with David must be Dana Gioia, Chairman of the NEA. Wow! Kodak moment! But every time I tried to surreptitiously get a shot of him, David’s ee caught my camera. Damn. Ah well. It would have only been the back of Chairman Gioia’s head, anyway.
Last semester we started a class with this Gioia essay on Longfellow, and a couple of Longfellow poems. Redemption of ryme. Gotta like it.
