Preface: A. R. Ammons

​

My poetry from 1969-70, written during graduate school at Cornell University,

was comprised from two semesters of independent study work with my mentor,

renown poet and chair of the English Department at Cornell, Archibald Randolph

Ammons. A.R. Ammons was one of America’s most honored poets, a published

author of nearly thirty collections of poems, a MacArthur Fellow and

Guggenheim Fellow were among a few of his numerous awards.

As my Thesis Chair as well as poetry professor, I am indebted to his astute

guidance and generous encouragement to my work. Truly a kind and perceptive

teacher, “Archie’s” influence has been a gentle force throughout my creative life.