"MEMORY AND INFLUENCE: A HISTORY OF DC POETS" Special Memorial Issue VOLUME FOUR, NUMBER FOUR Fall 2003 Introduction by Kim Roberts This special issue of Beltway examines the lives and legacies of DC poets who have passed away, but whose influence and importance to the DC literary community and to American letters remains strong. Thanks to the DC Humanities Council whose support made this issue possible, and individual donors who generously matched that grant: Martha Tabor, Gwen Rubinstein, Tonda Rush, Tom Drescher, Andrea Carter Brown, Nereide Ellis, Judy Thibalt Klevins, and Richard McCann. The Word Works, Inc. served as fiscal sponsor for this project; we offer our deepest thanks to them. And for their guidance, insight, and sometimes downright prodding, we thank Michon Boston, Grace Cavalieri, Jim Beall, Karren LaLonde Alenier, Michael Davis, and Libby Rifkin. Volunteers graciously stepped forward to offer in-kind services: for graphic design, we thank Kathy Keler and Emery Pajer, for scanning photos, we thank David Bujard, and for editing and proofreading we are especially grateful to Ann Kurzius. We'd also like to acknowledge a number of people who responded to the planning stages of this issue with enthusiasm and their stories of DC's literary history. We extend our thanks to Martin Murray, Terence Winch, David Kresh, M.A. Schaffner, and Robin Standish. There are many other poets we wish we could have included--and I'd like to name a few here. Please also look for work by the following DC poets: Stephen Vincent Benét, Gwendolyn Bennett, Ambrose Bierce, Carl Bode, Clarissa Scott Delaney, Tim Dlugos, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Gabrielle Edgcomb, Jessie Redmond Fauset, Lee Lally, Joaquin Miller, John Pauker, Saint John Perse, Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt, Jean Toomer, and Elinor Wylie.   CONTENTS E. Ethelbert Miller on STERLING BROWN Richard McCann on ED COX Brian Gilmore on WARING CUNEY Naomi Ayala on PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR Grace Cavalieri on ROLAND FLINT Rebecca Villarreal on ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE Merrill Leffler on O.B. HARDISON, JR. Kwame Alexander on LANGSTON HUGHES Valerie Jean on GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON Karren L. Alenier on ARCHIBALD MACLEISH Myra Sklarew on MAY MILLER Kenneth Carroll on GASTON NEAL Elisavietta Ritchie on BETTY PARRY Rod Jellema on EZRA POUND Dan Gutstein on DUDLEY RANDALL Kim Roberts on WALT WHITMAN For other web sites that illuminate aspects of DC's literary history, please also see: The DC Poetry History Project: http://www.dcpoetry.com/history.htm The DC Public Library Black Renaissance Project: http://www.dclibrary.org/blkren/index.html The Library of Congress US Poet Laureate Program: http://www.loc.gov/poetry/laureate.html The PBS Special, "Duke Ellington's DC": http://www.pbs.org/ellingtonsdc/dcHistory.htm   For web sites of those whose invaluable assistance made this issue possible, please also see: The Word Works, Inc.: http://www.wordworksdc.com Kathy Keler: http://washingtonart.com/keler.html Emery Pajer: http://www.emster.com The Humanities Council of Washington DC: http://www.wdchumanities.org   To read more by this author: Kim Roberts