Will Carleton Play

For sometime now, I've been in the process of working with Janet Shank of The Willoughby Fine Arts to make Will's story into a play.

Ever since I was young, my Aunt Marge and my family told me that I was related to Will Carleton, the poet laureate of Michigan. (I was fortunate enough to meet with Dr. Jerome Fallon from Hillsdale College in 1993, who was writing a book about Will Carleton.) My aunt told me that my grandfather often said that we were distant cousins and after looking at the family tree in Michigan (although there are no direct descendants), I came to the conclusion that Will is my great grandfather's cousin. I guess that makes me a distant cousin.

Will was an awesome poet. His most famous poem was "Over The Hill To The Poor House", which is about the inhumane treatment of the elderly of that time. The poem, "Sewing Girl's Diary", is about indoor air pollution during the era. Landlords at that time didn't think it was their responsibility to keep the air clean from the pollution caused by the chimneys in their buildings and people were dying from that pollution.

He also had poems about divorce, homelessness, and many other topics that are greatly reflected today as well as the 1800's. The idea that Will's topics are so timeless and relevant today is what fascinates me. In his poem, "The New Church Organ", the congregation is not sure of using new sounds and techniques in their church services, while in "The Old Man Laments", the old man says that before the telegraph came along he never was aware of the whole worlds problems - he just had to worry about the problems in his own home town!

His popularity was at a time when the United States changed from a rural to an industrial society. People were leaving their farms to move and get work in the cities. Will's poems, along with his fellow writers from the period, became part of America's conscience and, partly because of their writings, helped establish a safety net for the poorer members of our society. Through "Want, Want, Want" he looks more accurately at poverty than either the right or left wing of today's government in America. His work, "A Doctor's Story", gives some insight into the medical profession.

July 4th was Will's target in "How We Kept The Day" as he satirized our festivities. We eat and drink too much, and listen to politicians; This is how we celebrate our Nations Independence!

Lord willing, I am going to complete the play about Will Carleton. I have the outline for it - I just have to find the time to do it.
- Denny

Here are a couple of MP3s from the Play...
Over the Hill To the Poor House | Betsy and I Are Out

Will Carleton Biography

Dr. Jerome A. Fallon had served as a college teacher and administrator for forty years, the last twenty-one of which were at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale Michigan, Carleton's alma mater.

Dr. Fallon has published numerous articles and has obliged with lectures and poetry readings. He retired in 1989 but continued to serve as the curator of the Will Carleton papers held in the Carr Memorial Library of Hillsdale College. The library holds Carleton diaries, notebooks, correspondence and scrapbooks, his published works, many issues of "Everywhere Magazine", photographs, family mementoes, souvenirs and newspaper clippings. It also is the repository for the unfinished accounts of Carleton's life prepared by his friends, Alonzo B. Bragdon and Byron A. Finney.

Thanks to Dr. J.A. Fallon, this full-length biography of Will Carleton is now for sale. In 1919 Carleton's poems were a reason for celebration throughout Michigan because it designated October 21, as Will Carleton Day for recognition of literature in its public schools. Will Carleton (1845-1912) continues to inspire as seen through these words which were read 93 years ago at his funeral: “He sprang from the bosom of the people, near to nature's heart, he saw as they saw, felt as they felt, suffered as they suffered, and told it all with such homely, simple, beautiful sympathy, that all the world was touched”. Should you purchse the biography, "Will Carleton Poet Of the People", you too can come to know and cherish Michigan's “beloved” poet, Will Carleton.

National Geographic Honors Will Carleton

In the July 2002  issue of National Geographic, featuring The American bald eagle, Will Carleton was quoted in the middle of the of the book alongside a majestic picture of a soaring eagle with the caption:

This is quite an honor to be quoted by such a prestigious  magazine during these times, almost one hundred years after Will's death, especially in the July issue celebrating the symbol of our National Independence. It is apparent that Will was a great poet who was touched by God's grace. But you were never made, as I,
On the wings of the winds to fly!
The eagle said.