What thrill to join forces with Amanda Deutch’s dream child, Parachute Literary Arts! Whitman Was Here: Walt Whitman in Coney Island, June 2nd, 2019, was a festival celebrating Walt Whitman’s birthday in a place he loved. He spent time roaming the shore, drinking beer, eating oysters, and shouting poetry to the ocean. Our reading took place on West 21st Street and the boardwalk and was a part of the Walt Whitman Initiative. Poets dug their toes and words into the sand for this ethereal reading.
(photo by Jim McDonnell)poet from the Worker Writers School (photo by Jim McDonnell)Marina BlitshteynUrayoán NoelPatricia Spears Jones(photo by Jim McDonnell)Anna VitaleTim Cusack as glittering Whitman (photo by Jim McDonnell)Amanda Deutch in front of the historic Child’s Building (photo by Jim McDonnell)Volunteer Ariana Podesta chalks the Coney boardwalk (photo by Jim McDonnell)The fabulous Amanda DeutchKool Whitman (aka Ed Zeizel) – seated in an original Parachute Jump seat at Kitchen 21, who hosted our event.Whitman Sprout (aka Parker Z)