Of sword and pen

What a good article by David Shaw (“The Power of Words: Listening During Wartime,” Jan. 30).

I worked for the poet Virginia Hamilton Adair, who was then blind and in her 90s. A poet friend in Maine sent me Sam Hamill’s request for poems, and I rushed up to Ms. Adair’s room and asked her if she wanted to send one. We sent two of her poems, “Casualty” and “My Radio.” She was pretty much confined to her room, the radio on most of the day. She heard her poem read on NPR the next day and was elated.

“Casualty” was chosen for the anthology “Poets Against the War” and was her last poem published before her death.

I saw the movie “Voices Against the War” a few months ago at a local library. A high school teacher had bribed her class with extra credit if they went and there they were, restless and bored. They were very quiet during the movie, and I saw a big change in them when it was over.

-- Joanne Gonzalez

Claremont