September 2, 2015, 7:00, downtown at Suzie’s Dogs & Drafts, 32 Phelps St. Free parking in the lot behind the Voinovich Building, corner of Hazel and Commerce.
Writers from the Veterans’ Writing Circle in Kent, Ohio, Major Ragain & Joe Caley read and talk about the writing group now in its eighth year. Open mic moderated by Nick Avila.
Maj Ragain was born on a Saturday morning in 1940 in a small farming community in Illinois. Father, a carpenter; mother, a homemaker. The poem, a thing made of language on hand, in and by hand. Wood, food, cloth, paper, that long tradition. Raised on Vernor Lake, fishing the skylights. Education, the paved road out of town. PhD, Kent State. Poetry, that dirt road winding back home, that slip knot, bridging solitude and community. Maj has taught at Kent State off and on since 1960. A Hungry Ghost Surrenders His Tackle Box is Maj’s fifth collection of poems.
Joe Caley is a decorated Vietnam combat veteran serving with the 1st Cavalry as a point man/scout/ dog handler 1968-1969. He was a conscripted soldier and served honorably. Upon separation from military service he returned to Northeast Ohio where he became a founding member of Warriors’ Journey Home Ministry. Joe participated in a Vietnam journey for healing and reconciliation in 2010 with Soldiers Heart Ministry where he met former Viet Cong and North Vietnamese army regulars. They shared stories of war, read poetry, and had meals together.