Helping Children With Poetic Feelings

Poet Al Bitter of Venice shows Westside youngsters how to put their feelings onto paper.

Bitter conducts poetry workshops for children--some as young as 9--and teen-agers. At the start of each workshop, he gives the students a choice of about 30 subjects.

The workshops are free, but Bitter insists on one thing: participation.

“In the class, I notice their interest,” he said. “If there’s no interest, I tell them to join a dance group.”

Bitter, a retired Venice High School music teacher, has been published in the “World of Poetry” annual anthology and has received several distinguished awards for his work.

But writing poetry is a solitary craft, and Bitter, 70, found not long after his retirement that he missed the contact with children.

“I decided I must do a little more,” he said. “I thought, maybe I can teach writing to youngsters because poetry is my hobby, and I love to work with children.”

Four years ago, he began teaching poetry workshops in a program offered by the Culver City Recreation Department. He has also started a workshop at the Venice Public Library.

Bitter says he has been rewarded by seeing the children write freely about their lives, experiences and feelings.

“I give them an incentive (to write),” he said. “I tell them don’t write with just a pencil, but to write with their hearts.”

Dr. Richard Sandor has been appointed medical director of the Chemical Dependency Center at St. John’s Hospital and Health Center in Santa Monica.

A graduate of Yale University and USC School of Medicine, Sandor interned at County USC Medical Center and completed a residency in psychiatry at the Neuropsychiatric Institute at the UCLA Center for Health Sciences.

He is also a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

The Wagner Program of the University of Judaism honored community leader and Beverly Hills resident Janet Salter at a luncheon Nov. 19 at the Beverly Hilton.

Salter is a longtime supporter of numerous religious and community organizations.

The Beverly Hills Bar Assn. recently honored Michael Klein with its President’s Award in recognition of his service to the organization.

Klein is a partner in the West Los Angeles firm of Klein & Weisz.

Two Westside residents have been named members of the Regents Council at Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles.

Jack Ybarra, president of Transmetrics Inc. in Los Angeles, and Helen Elliot, a Beverly Hills resident, will serve on the 63-member council.

The Bruce and Toni Corwin family received the first annual “Family of Distinction” award given by Temple Emanuel.

The Corwins, chosen for their dedication and involvement in religious and social causes, were honored at a dinner dance Nov. 7 at the Beverly Hills temple.

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