A Poetic Salute to Whitman Offered

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself, and what I assume you shall assume, for every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. . . .”

The joyous words of Walt Whitman’s masterpiece, “Song of Myself,” will ring through the Bear Street Cafe in Crystal Court on Friday as PEN Orange County commemorates the 100th anniversary of the death of the man who declared himself the Poet of Democracy.

“An Evening With Walt Whitman” will feature bilingual readings of sections of “Song of Myself,” the long, 52-part lyric poem that is considered Whitman’s greatest. The free program, accompanied by period musical selections, begins at 7 p.m. in the Bear Street Cafe, 3333 Bear St., Costa Mesa.

Jack Grapes, a Los Angeles poet, playwright and actor renowned for his Whitman readings, will read the poem in English; Florinda Mintz, an Argentina-born poet and critic who lives in Santa Ana, will read it in Spanish from a translation by the late Argentine poet Jorge Luis Burges.

The bilingual reading, according to organizers, symbolizes the worldwide power of Whitman’s words, which personify the American spirit and democracy. The poems of the patriotic Brooklyn printer, political journalist and essayist have been translated into more than 20 languages.

“From my point of view, he has influenced the entire continent, the entire world,” said Mintz, founding president of the Orange County chapter of PEN, the international writers’ organization.

“When we were growing up in Buenos Aires in the ‘60s and ‘70s, Walt Whitman was one of the poets that you must read,” said Mintz. “From our point of view in South America, his poems personified the American dream, the unity of races, love for nature, respect for your own self.”

To create the ambience of the times in which Whitman lived, Lloyd Rodgers, a composer and Cal State Fullerton professor, has selected music to accompany the readings. Among the taped selections are “The Union” by Louis Moreau Gottschalk, “The Pond” by Charles Ives and four American hymns, including “Amazing Grace.”

“We want the people to feel Whitman from his time,” Mintz said.

“Song of Myself” is the longest poem in Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass,” his acclaimed collection of poems first published in 1855 and revised several times by the poet over the years. Although few of Whitman’s contemporaries recognized the significance of the collection when it first appeared, Ralph Waldo Emerson proclaimed the book “the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed.”

Mintz said that there have been several Spanish translations of “Song of Myself” but that Burges’ translation “is probably the most accurate.”

“It’s fascinating to read,” she said. “You can feel the spirit of enthusiasm in his language. It’s amazing the optimism of ‘Song of Myself.’ It’s a song to life, and to the freedom of just being a human being, (of being) aware of your body, your role in society, how you extend yourself with people who you love and how that relationship happens.”

*

Lightning Publications, a new Fullerton-based publishing company, has been launched with the publication of its first two paperback releases: “Then, Now and Forever” a novel by Carmel Rapisardi of Anaheim, and “Winning the Peace,” a political economics book by Ken White of Costa Mesa.

The small company, whose president is Orange County printer Lee Roy Thompson, recently celebrated its debut with an invitation-only autographing reception at the Balboa Bay Club.

Rapisardi’s book, originally published in hardback in 1977 by Brasch and Brasch, spans the ‘20s to the ‘70s and takes the lead character from the streets of New York through World War II and to the worlds of show business and politics.

White, who describes himself as an amateur economist, says his book is aimed at the layman and provides both a positive and negative look into America’s economic future.

White, a former high school English teacher and librarian who studied economic development at Cal State Long Beach, is serving as the fledgling publishing company’s director of operations. As such, he is handling everything from publicity to marketing.

Finding a distributor was their biggest first hurdle, White said. But while Baker & Taylor, a New Jersey-based distributor, is handling the first two books, bookstores aren’t necessarily carrying them.

“We have to wait for stores to order them,” said White. “The trick is to do some kind of publicity or promotion that will make the book catch on with the public.”

To help get the word out, White is lining up speaking engagements and book signings. The next signing will be from from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at B Dalton Bookseller in the North Orange Mall in Orange.

White concedes that the signings are just “token efforts” to generate exposure for the books. But he remains undaunted by the uphill battle they face in launching their small publishing house.

“It’s going about as planned,” he said. “You always take about two steps backward every time you take two forward. You make a lot of mistakes and run into a lot of buzz saws, but you just have to wear them down.”

The company’s third book, “Sand Storm,” a mystery set in Saudi Arabia by Paul Majkut, editor of the San Diego Review, is scheduled for publication later this year. Lighting Publications is also seeking other writers of both fiction and nonfiction. For more information, call White at (714) 540-1893.

*

Book Signings. Patricia McFall (“Night Butterfly”), Lucha Corpi (“Eulogy for a Brown Angel”) and Meg O’Brien (“Eagles Die Too”) will sign from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at Book Carnival, 348 S. Tustin Ave., Orange. . . . Glenn Barnett (“When Jesus Walked”) will sign from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at Fahrenheit 451, 540 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach. . . . Patricia McFall (“Night Butterfly”) and Jill Morgan (“Between the Devil and the Deep”) will sign from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Green Door Mystery Bookstore, 31781 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. . . . Gary Amo (“Creeping Shadows”) will sign from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Mystery Ink, 332 Forest Ave., Laguna Beach.

*

Author Speaks. “An Evening with Gregory Benford,” a Nebula Award-winning science fiction author, will be held at 6:30 p.m. today at the Crown Valley Library, 30341 Crown Valley Parkway, Laguna Niguel. Benford’s talk is titled “Beyond Orange County: A Look at the Future.” Admission is free. Information: (714) 566-3060.

Benford, a Laguna Beach resident and professor of physics at UC Irvine, has won the Nebula Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America for his novels “Timescape” and “If the Stars Are Gods.” He co-authored his most recent novel, “Beyond the Fall of Night” with Arthur C. Clarke.

*

Viscott Talk. Author and KABC radio host Dr. David Viscott will discuss emotional freedom in a 30-minute presentation based on his upcoming book “Emotionally Free” at 1 p.m. Saturday at Crystal Court, 3333 Bear St., Costa Mesa. Following a question-and-answer session, Viscott will sign copies of his new book, which is scheduled for general release in September.

*

Laguna Poets. The Paper Tygerz will perform their poetry at the Laguna Poets meeting at 8 p.m. Friday at the Laguna Beach Public Library, 363 Glenneyre St. Free.

*

Writing Classes. Newport Beach novelist Douglas Muir will teach at Advance Creative Writing Workshop co-sponsored by Irvine Valley College from 1 to 4 p.m. beginning Monday at the Irvine Senior Center, 3 Sandberg Way. (714) 733-1055.

Muir will also teach a creative-writing class co-sponsored by Irvine Valley College from noon to 3 p.m. beginning Tuesday at the Laguna Community Center, 384 Legion St. (714) 559-3395. Both 18-week workshops are free.