Rest In Grace
I had a very different writing invitation planned for this week, but the universe intervened when Kentucky writer, farmer and advocate Wendell Berry died at 92 on Aug. 31. Unlike several of my Kentucky writer friends (see Liz Prather’s What Wendell Berry Taught Me About Being a Teacher), I never met Berry, but his words have touched me many times through my Kentucky years and his work often played an important role in my classroom as well as the pages of my journal. I have long been driven to write about place and how our connection to specific places sustains us as well as brings responsibility, both ideas were at the heart of Wendell Berry’s life and work.
Some of the ways I’ve used Wendell Berry as an invitation to write:
But I will leave you with four poems that others (Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr. and Beth Silvers) shared in memory of the poet: Why, They, and Dust plus The Peace of Wild Things which was truly the inspiration for today’s post. I have always found comfort and inspiration in Wendell Berry’s words and may you find both as well:
