Death of a poet

May 12, 6:43 PMNY Writing Careers ExaminerTad Richards

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Illustration by Tad Richards

Craig Arnold, award-winning poet and explorer, missing since mid-April while exploring a Japanese volcano, has been declared dead from a fall. Arnold was fascinated by volcanoes, and wrote a blog about his trip.  The Los Angeles Times, in its obituary for Arnold, quotes a blog entry that I tried to pull an extract from, but couldn't...it's too much of a piece. So here's the link.

Arnold's first book of poems, Shells (1999), was selected by W. S. Merwin for the Yale Series of Younger Poets. In 2005, he was awarded the Joseph Brodsky Rome Prize Fellowship in literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

The world needs its poets, and its explorers. For a book on business and careers, a number of years ago, I interviewed a businessman friend, and I asked him how he would feel if his son decided he wanted to be a poet or a musician.

"I'd give him my blessing," he said. "The world needs more poets and musicians. It's in danger of losing its soul."

Craig Arnold is mourned, and will be missed. He restored a part of the world's soul.

For the last word here, I'll give you Edward Byrne, whose One Poet's Notes may well be the best poetry blog around, for an appreciation of Arnold, and a poem.