Celebrating Walt Whitman's 200th Birthday

To commemorate Walt Whitman's 200th birthday on May 31, I was honored to be among the 200 writers, poets, historians, artists, politicians and public figures invited to contribute to the online project "Every Atom" sponsored by the North American Review, the nation's longest-running literary magazine. NAR asked participants to write a short analysis and appreciation of a favorite passage from Whitman's transformative 1855 book of poems, Leaves of Grass. I chose to write about line 832 in his poem, "Song of Myself," which imaginatively shared the December 1853 sinking of the steamship San Francisco off the coast of New York: "I am the man, I suffered, I was there."

To read my piece, click here.

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