Beech River Books

by Dudley Laufman

"I love his slant, honest voice that I have come to identify, inextricably, as the sound of New Hampshire."

–John-Michael Albert

Dudley Laufman was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship in May 2009 by the National Endowment of the Arts and is the recipient of a Governor's Award in the Arts Lifetime Achievement Folk Heritage Award for his work in music and contra-dance calling. This collection of 135 poems from many decades confirms his equal dedication as a poet. The writing is firmly rooted in a story-telling tradition that is folksy, approachable, and unpretentious. Laufman shows us how to love the land, animals, plants and people with a tender appreciation of their inner qualities and with subdued but sustained wonder at the power of each experience that makes up a life.

IN A HURRY

Surging up the driveway
dew flying off the hood
get to the post office
before the mail goes
thinking of all to be done

The tiger lilies
in their orange vests
lean out
flag me down

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$18.00 / paperback / 240 pages / 5-1/2 in. (w) by 8-1/2 in. (h)
Beech River Books / 2007 / ISBN 978-0-9793778-2-2.
With illustrations by Jacqueline Laufman.

Dudley Laufman has had a celebrated career as the leader of the Canterbury Dance Orchestra, playing and calling New England jigs and reels as part of the folk revival. Since 1986 he and Jacqueline Laufman have been performing as Two Fiddles, still playing and calling dances with a distinctive, earthy sound.

Laufman's poetry has been published in over 15 books and chapbooks since 1964, including Wind in the Timothy, Orchard and Garden, and The Stone Man. Walking Sticks is the most extensive collection of his life's work.