May 26, 2003 - Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Morocco RPCV and Poety Theatre Founder Don Wilsun dies in Seattle

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Morocco: Peace Corps Morocco : The Peace Corps in Morocco: May 26, 2003 - Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Morocco RPCV and Poety Theatre Founder Don Wilsun dies in Seattle

By Admin1 (admin) on Monday, May 26, 2003 - 10:16 am: Edit Post

Morocco RPCV and Poety Theatre Founder Don Wilsun dies in Seattle





Read and comment on this story from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on Morocco RPCV Don Wilsun who died this week in Seattle. He was the founder of the Red Sky Poetry Theatre, the longest-running open microphone on the West Coast and perhaps in the country, poetry democracy in action, none of those stuffy academic airs. The Comet Tavern was packed last Saturday afternoon with Mr. Wilsun's friends and acquaintances, some from his labor union, some from demolition work, some from poetry, some from neighboring bar stools through the years. His huge spirit was celebrated, this distinctive Cajun so long settled in the distant Northwest, a conga-playing character few would soon forget. "A lot of us loved him," stressed poet Judith Roche. "Maybe everybody who knew him loved him." Read the story at:

Don Wilsun: 1946-2003*

* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.



Don Wilsun: 1946-2003
Poetry Theatre founder leaves legacy of his works

By JOHN MARSHALL
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER BOOK CRITIC

Imagine a poet. Pause and reflect a moment on what comes to mind.

Big Don Wilsun fit no such image, but he was a diligent poet nonetheless. He was a giant bear of a man, a native of Louisiana who did demolition work for many years, taking down old buildings so new buildings could arise in their place, but always carrying a notebook in his lunch bucket for the jottings that he would later wrestle into new poems.

Mr. Wilsun was still writing in that notebook on May 8, said friend Don Glover, but those jottings would never be shaped into poems, would never be performed on stage in that huge voice that was such a vital part of the outsize persona of Big Don. He died alone in bed that night in his place on Capitol Hill, only weeks short of his 57th birthday.

Mr. Wilsun's great legacy to Seattle will live on, just as it has for more than 20 years of Sunday evenings when any poet could get on stage and be heard with sympathetic ears. He was the founder of the Red Sky Poetry Theatre, the longest-running open microphone on the West Coast and perhaps in the country, poetry democracy in action, none of those stuffy academic airs. He even coined the group's name inspired by his days on fishing boats in Alaska ("Red sky at night, sailors' delight").

The founder himself had performed at Red Sky on April 20, reading from his new collection, "Petty Crimes." It was Mr. Wilsun's final Seattle performance, although no one sensed that, maybe not even the poet himself. So much in his life seemed to be going so well, new poems, new romance, new work.

"It was sizzling reading from his new book," recalled friend Elliott Bronstein. "He soared and wailed. It was a helluva gig."

Mr. Wilsun had arrived in Seattle in the late 1960s as a Vista volunteer, later served in the Peace Corps in Morocco. Both experiences marked him far more than his college years at McNeese State University, where he played on the basketball team. He developed a social conscience as big as his presence. He was, friend Paul Hunter said, "a working-class guy."

His poems never brought him any money, other than perhaps a share of the donations at the door. But that did not deter Mr. Wilsun's writing. Nor did the fact that his poems only found small local publishers who produced booklets of his wide-ranging verse. They still came out regularly -- "Orcas Island" (1980), "Sweet Skin" (1993), "Frog's Legs" (1996), "Lynchings" (2002) -- and he would often pass out free copies to compatriots in Capitol Hill's Comet Tavern, which was his alternate living room.

He would take out his pen and personally inscribe a copy, as he did last fall for a friend, with "So often we have to bring justice to get justice," and then sign off with "Big Don."

The Comet Tavern was packed last Saturday afternoon with Mr. Wilsun's friends and acquaintances, some from his labor union, some from demolition work, some from poetry, some from neighboring bar stools through the years. His huge spirit was celebrated, this distinctive Cajun so long settled in the distant Northwest, a conga-playing character few would soon forget.

"A lot of us loved him," stressed poet Judith Roche. "Maybe everybody who knew him loved him."

Mr. Wilsun leaves no survivors, but he leaves many surviving poems. Those poems will be read again at an open-mike memorial at 8 p.m. June 14 at the Freehold Theater, 1525 10th Ave. Everyone will be reading Don Wilsun poems that evening except, of course, their best reader of all with that booming voice.

Click on a link below for more stories on PCOL

5/24/03
Main Sections
PCOL Magazine
Breaking News
One World
Peace Corps Library


Directory Sign Up

Volunteer Directory
Directory by COS
RPCVs by COS
RPCVs by Interest
Recent Headlines
What is the future of the Peace Corps? 23 May
Bush announces "Volunteers for Prosperity" 21 May
Pre-empting Protest at the Peace Corps 19 May
Kerry calls for 25 thousand Volunteers 19 May
Peace Corps on the wagon 14 May
A Russian Peace Corps? 14 May
Watch Director Vasquez on web tv 8 May
Concerns over Relief Efforts in Iraq 6 May
SARS disrupts PCV's mission in China 5 May
Bush thanks Vasquez on AIDS Initiative 29 Apr
White House kicks back Gearan nomination 28 Apr
more breaking news...
Special Sections
Advocacy
Bulletin Board
Cartoons
Congress
Directors
Headlines
History
Humor
Laws
Lost RPCVs
Master Index
NPCA
Obituaries
PCVs
Photography
RPCVs
Recruitment
Return to COS
Safety of PCVs
Service
Speaking Out
Stories
The Third Goal
Training
US Peace Corps
USA Freedom Corps
PCOL Magazine - May 2003 Issue
Jack Vaughn - Peace Corps Legend
The Digital Freedom Initiative
Committee Approves Dodd's PC Legislation
PCV returns to China on her own
The Peace Corps' Secret

Special Report - Iraq Reconstruction
Shays says aid organizations curtailed in Iraq
RPCV to re-establish financial system in Iraq
US has obligations in Iraq says RPCV


Other Special Reports
Exclusive: How RPCVs organized anti-war Ad
Improvements needed in Volunteer Support
From Russia with Love
GAO Reports on PCV Safety and Security
The Controversy over Lariam
Senior Staff Appointments at PC HQ
PC Expansion: The Numbers Game?
Why the Peace Corps needs Shriver's 4th Goal
When should PC return to Afghanistan?
RPCV Spy dies in Moscow
The Case for Peace Corps Independence
USA Freedom Corps paved with good intentions
more special reports ...



Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Morocco; Poetry; Theatre; Obituary

PCOL4942
01

.


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: