Things to Say to a Dead Man: Poems at the End of a Marriage and After - Paperback

by Jane Yolen (Author)

Internationally renowned author Jane Yolen has composed a sequence of tough, angry, and moving love poems that express grief and gratitude for her late husband David, as witness to his treatment for and passing from cancer, and the ongoing loss that is felt years after his death.

In one poem, Yolen--a prize-winning poet, speaks of his shallow bird breath/beating beneath the cage of his chest bones. In another: Do not help me to forget./Help me to remember. And in a third:

You have gone before me into winter,
Into spring, into summer, somehow
A consummate time traveler
I can never catch up to,
Always a season ahead.

Jane Yolen, often called the Hans Christian Andersen of America, is the author of over three hundred books, including Owl Moon, The Devil's Arithmetic, and How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight. The books range from rhymed picture books and baby board books through middle grade fiction, poetry collections, nonfiction, novels, and story collections for young adults and adults, and two books of adult poetry. Her books and stories have won two Nebula Awards, a World Fantasy Award, a Caldecott Medal, the Golden Kite Award, three Mythopoeic awards, two Christopher Medals, a nomination for the National Book Award, and the Jewish Book Award. She is also the winner (for body of work) of the Kerlan Award, the World Fantasy Association Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Catholic Library's Regina Medal.

Author Biography

Jane Yolen: Jane Yolen, often called the Hans Christian Andersen of America, is the author of over 300 books, including OWL MOON, THE DEVIL'S ARITHMETIC, and HOW DO DINOSAURS SAY GOODNIGHT. The books range from rhymed picture books and baby board books, through middle grade fiction, poetry collections, nonfiction, and up to novels and story collections for young adults and adults, and two books of adult poetry.

Her books and stories have won an assortment of awards--two Nebulas, a World Fantasy Award, a Caldecott, the Golden Kite Award, three Mythopoeic awards, two Christopher Medals, a nomination for the National Book Award, and the Jewish Book Award, among others. She is also the winner (for body of work) of the Kerlan Award, the World Fantasy Assn. Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Catholic Library's Regina Medal. Six colleges and universities have given her honorary doctorates.