.Former Texas Poet Laureate, Paul D. Ruffin — May 31, 2007 Image by kenne
Writer, educator and editor, Paul D. Ruffin was born May 14, 1941, in Millport, AL. It is with sadness that I learned that Paul past away at 2:00 am yesterday (April 13, 2016) only hours after attending a gathering of poets in east Texas.
“I’m a Renaissance man,” Paul Ruffin told Jeannie Kever, the Chronicle reporter whose article, “Well-Versed in Creativity,” on Ruffin appeared June 6, 2009. His impact on the Texas literary world will forever be lasting.
I share again a video I produced and posted on this blog, August 7, 2009, of the Texas Poetry Shoot-Out at “Good Books In The Woods,” Spring, Texas.
While Jill and Joy spent time with James and Chase at the iFest (Houston International Festival), I went to the Houston Public Library – Downtown, to listen to Dave Parsons (2011 Texas Poet Laureate) and some other poets at Public Poetry, after which Dave and I went to the Doubletree Houston for a beer.
The event, a poetic shoot-out , paired two Montgomery County poets, good friends and mutual supporters, which carries even more significance now that Parsons has become the most recent poet laureate of Texas. Southeast Texas is the new hub of poetry in Texas.
On June 6, 2009, posting on Paul Ruffin being selected as the Texas poet laureate, I wrote: “As a member of the Montgomery County Literary Arts Council (MCLAC) and close friend of founder, Dave Parsons, it was with mixed emotions that we received the news Paul’s being named the new Texas poet laureate, an honor for which both were finalists.” Although the irony of Dave having nominated Paul can’t go unnoticed, Dave would have it no other way. We are blessed to have both these great writers living in Montgomery County, fast becoming a literary hub.” So NOW MONTGOMERY COUNTY HAS TWO TEXAS POET LAUREATES! Yes, I just learned from a Facebook entry posted by Nancy Parsons, Dave’s wife, about this great news. This recognition is indeed a most deserving honor for my dear friend, Dave. CONGRATULATIONS!
Paul Ruffin at “Writers In Performance” series at Lone Star College Montgomery
“I’m a Renaissance man,” Paul Ruffin told Jeannie Kever, the Chronicle reporter whose article, “Well-Versed in Creativity,” on Ruffin appears in today’s paper. Whatever the label – I think the label one can invoke from the placement of an article on Ruffin being in the Obituaries, Editorials, Outlook and Weather section might be much better – he embodies a lot of contradictions, existing somewhere in between. However, he seems to thrive in a dichotomistic world, which more often than not he creates and expresses in a very trusting voice – this is what makes him a great storyteller.
“He slices off the tip of the pink sack
of my fifth bull of the day, works
the testicles out until they protrude
like angry bullets of flesh, and cuts
them away with one stroke of his knife,
whose blade has been honed to a sliver.
He hands the steaming lumps to his son,
The youngest, who reaches through the fence.
‘They’ll be fried later,’ he finally says
in answer to my question,
‘when we have a quart or so.’”
— from the Paul Ruffin poem, “Cutting”
As a member of the Montgomery County Literary Arts Council (MCLAC) and close friend of it’s founder, Dave Parsons, it was with mixed emotions that we received the news from Dave that Paul had been named the new Texas poet laureate, an honor for which both were finalists. Although the irony of Dave having nominated Paul can’t go unnoticed, Dave would have it no other way. We are blessed to have both these great writers living in Montgomery County, fast becoming a literary hub.
Former Texas Poet Laureate, Paul D. Ruffin — May 31, 2007 Image by kenne
Becoming is Superior to Being 