Yesterday morning I had the opportunity to meet Ted Kooser at his reading in Appleton. Here, for posterity, is how the interchange proceeded.

I was speaking with Ellen Kort, Wisconsin’s first Poet Laureate, when Mr. Kooser returned from the Men’s room. Ellen asked me, “Have you met Ted Kooser?”

I replied “No,” smiling, and offered my hand.

He took it, blank-faced, and asked, “And you are?”

I responded, still smiling, “Lester Smith.” A pause. “Current president of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets.”

He replied, “Oh,” then, “Ellen, shall we get this thing underway?”

Fortunately, 25+ years in publishing, with a penchant for backwater projects like hobby games and poetry, have left me with an ego that is neither too large nor too small. I returned to my table, chuckling, and thoroughly enjoyed his reading. (He read an unpublished “journal” of a Blackhawk War foot soldier, followed by “Dishwater” and “The beaded purse” by audience request.)
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