Many American school children of a certain generation, or perhaps several generations, were introduced to writing poetry through the Japanese form – haiku. It is very simple, and allows for great creativity within a defined structure – 3 lines, 17 syllables total, 5 – 7 – 5. Easy enough for even a child, but never truly mastered. I think many people, like me, have fond memories of writing haiku in grade school.
And some of us come back to it as adults, like Lawrence Eyre, Iowa born and bred, who spent most of his life as a teacher and tennis coach after earning a B.A. in American Studies from Yale. Eyre was named US Professional Tennis Association national high school coach of the year in 2009, and he coached both high school and college level. Upon retirement, he started writing haiku, and couldn’t stop. His first two collections are “Heartland Haiku” and “”Haiku Country,” both of which we explore in this delightful conversation.
Some Haiku arrived simply with the stork, others required long labor.
If what we love and do well helps others, that’s our natural best work.
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These collections show this graceful form at what must be its best, with an enormous range of emotion, insight and experience. They soothe, and they bite, without bitterness.
Dear Monica,
Thank you for this delightful, revealing and thought-provoking piece with Larry Eyre – a conversation much more than an interview. I was one of Larry’s fellow Whiffenpoofs at Yale, and we sang and sang and sang. Ask him to sing the Beatles tune “Here There, and Everywhere,” and then know that unerringly on-pitch, lovely melodic voice. One of my best years it was. I had not known from where this great first tenor had come, but now I do. I contribute this, thus: “A broad smile throughout, knowing how he came to be, a dropped drum is all.
Delightful interview. So fun to hear my high school government teacher Lawrence Eyre again. He continues to inspire me 30 yrs from when I last heard him teach. He always had a way of distilling ideas down into their most salient points. Thank you for sharing this with us!
Each haiku is a pearl of wisdom!
Lovely, inspiring interview. History, family, community, and Haiku!