Sherry Chandler

The Peace Tree is a blog that has just come to my attention. It’s managed by thepoetryman who also writes A Poetic Justice.

Here is a selection from the May Day post:

The funny thing about war is that most of the people involved suffer. The soldiers suffer and the folks caught in the middle (even if they support the war) suffer. What we are seeing in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Lebanon, Sudan- and other parts of africa- is what war has done. Especially in Africa; famine, drought, disease- We’d like to think we have escaped that. We have inflicted that on Iraq- but we here will reap the harvest of the seeds we have sown. Even now- we are marching towards bankruptcy; our food supply is changing, and we have no friends. We aren’t suffering like the Iraqis- or any of the other places i mentioned. But the wounds to this country run deep. We may not have the bombs and guns here- but the devastation to our constitution are going to be long felt for decades.

Helen Losse also contributes to this blog and in the future I will be making contributions. Give it a visit. I know I’ll be talking about it again.

Hey, gang! I said I’d tell you who I’m reading with at the Derby Eve (May 4) First Friday and now I know. It’s Richard Taylor, all round nice guy and the Poor Richard of Poor Richard’s Books!

Richard Taylor is professor and Resident Creative Writer at Kentucky State University. A former poet laureate for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Taylor has written several books, including Bluegrass, Earth Bones, Stone Eye and most recently a historical novel of the Civil War, Sue Mundy.

The Peach Pie Band will make their 7th annual Derby Eve First Friday appearance.

Cover charge is $10 for adults; students are half price. Performance begins at 7 pm at the Kentucky Coffeetree Café, 235 Broadway, Frankfort, KY 40601.

It’s a good idea to reserve a table, which you can do by contacting Lizz Taylor at 502-223-8018 or email at prbook@aol.com. They make good soup and sandwiches so you can plan to have dinner there.

And I’d recommend coming early so you have time to browse the bookstore, including the upstairs room just packed with out of print and rare editions.