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Family Stories in Prose & Poetry: Hayner Library Welcomes Thompson & Riehl
Father-daughter team Janet Riehl & Erwin A. Thompson present “Family Stories: Prose & Poetry” on April 25th at 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room at the Hayner Library in Alton Square Mall, 132 Alton Square. Family stories shape our lives. Erwin A. Thompson and Janet Grace Riehl reflect on the power of memory…
“Our Heritage,” a landmark poem by Erwin A. Thompson
Persimmon, sasafrass, and ash Reclaim the land that once was theirs. “Submarginal”, the experts say. Once, hillside plows were used to turn The fertile ground. It nurtured, and produced the crops, Sustained, with money crops, and food The pioneers. They didn’t have a guarantee of annual wage. Their maps, drawn out with pointed sticks In…
Holidays with Pop atop the Snowy Bluffs
Quiet, quiet Christmas Eve Day morning as the birds wake up on top of our bluffs above the Mississippi. They flitter and twitter around the Ruth E. Thompson memorial bird feeders. A nod to one of my mother’s most passionate pass times. Snow, snow, snow. Even the river is frozen. We used to skate on…
Erwin A. Thompson Sings of Bums & Tramps
My father wrote me that recently one of his friends had educated him on the difference between bums and tramps. These were terms in use during the Great Depression…before Street People and Homeless. Listen and learn.–JGR I had always thought that the words “bum” and “tramp” were interchangeable. Not so. A tramp is a person…
Mississippi Headwaters
This picture is a corner of a post card that my father saved for my brother to scan as I continue my travels in Northern California. Gary says, “This is the headwaters of the Mississippi, at the Itasca State Park in Minnesota. My family was there once. I think Daddy and Mother were there also…
Thompson’s poem “Progress” featured in The Hoosier Kernel
The Hoosier Kernel, the newsletter of the Indiana Nut Growers Association, edited by J.R. McKenna (December 2009, volume 56, number 4) featured my father’s poem “Progress.” See page 8. The Indiana Nut Growers Association is part of the Northern Nut Growers Association. The placement of one of my father’s poems is quite appropriate since his…