The Benicia First Tuesday Poets’ new poetry anthology (the 7th) came out this past Sunday with a group meeting/Release Event at the City library’s Dona Benicia Room. “Light & Shadow” is its title, a collaborative effort between Benicia First Tuesday Poets and Benicia’s literary organization, Benicia Literary Arts. Thirty-seven poets are represented with three or […]
Boatyard draws inspiration for poets, Plein Air artists in new exhibit
One of the most eye-catching sights in Benicia is the old Joe Garske Boatyard, located between C and D streets. When it opened in the 1950s, it specialized in marine services and oil spill cleanup in the Carquinez Strait. Now, the shipyard is a cluster of old fishing and utility boats, cranes and other nautical […]
REPOST: Poetry Corner: Frances Jackson “Benicia”
(Editor’s note: The Herald received word last week from Poet Laureate Johanna Ely that Frances Jackson died June 14 after a period of illness. Jackson was a long-time member of the Benicia First Tuesday Poetry Group and won the Benicia Love Poetry Contest in 2015. Details on her memorial are still being worked out, but […]
‘California Dreaming’ is theme for Sunday poetry reading at Rellik
Call it the lure of the West. For generations, people have been relocating to California, whether it was through the Gold Rush in 1848 or to take advantage of the nice weather, careers in technology or desire to become a film star. Whether one moved to California during their lifetimes or had ancestors who moved […]
Poetry to resume at Rosanna’s following accident
Following an accident almost two weeks ago that led to it being temporarily closed, Rosanna’s European Delights is open again and just in time for Benicia’s First Sunday Poetry Series in April. On the evening of Thursday, March 9, a vehicle had crashed into the side of the First Street bakery and struck a gas […]
The A Cappella Handyman: Pedro’s Back! (No. 361!)
Yes, it’s true, The A Cappella Handyman is BACK! Let’s just say a sabbatical was in order and I got some home chores done, re-started my Friday Blog and gave a shot in the arm to my “Taproot & Aniseweed.” And yes, this IS my 361st column for the Benicia Herald. Really, since 2008, 360 […]
Poetry Corner: Mary Susan Gast “September in the Northern Hemisphere
In wistful September We descend From summer’s summit of light To the dreadful balance Of the precarious Equinox. From there we catch the zip-line Into the sway of night. Mary Susan Gast is a member of Benicia’s First Tuesday Poetry Group
Poetry Corner: Bobby Richardson “Why I Write Poetry”
I first started writing poetry for the same reason people write or keep journals. Growing up in Alabama as a kid in a family of 12, I went without a lot. I subsequently began to write my feelings down on paper, and voila, a poet was born and my first poem of many to come […]
Joel Fallon, Benicia’s first poet laureate, dies
Joel Fallon, who had the distinction of being Benicia’s first poet laureate, died Thursday morning, according to an email sent out by current Poet Laureate Johanna Ely. He was 85. “Joel was a wonderful poet and mentor to many, who gave so much of his wisdom and energy to our community,” Ely wrote. “He […]
Poetry Corner: Frances Jackson-Patrick “Leily”
She wears polka dot shoes with heels I gave her though not yet five and far away she follows me my shadow belated child of my child’s child. She wears a cowboy hat with heels I gave her she said, “I love God and Grandma Frances Jackets.” laughing hard until I cried overcome by a […]