Jean Huets – Walt Whitman
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Jean Heuts is a noted author whose writing has appeared in The New York Times, Kenyon Review, The Millions, North American Review, Ploughshares, On the Sea Wall, and Civil War Monitor.
She co-founded Circling Rivers, an independent press dedicated to poetry and literary nonfiction.
Ms. Heuts is a member of James River Writers and National Book Critics Circle.
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Selected works
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With Walt Whitman, Himself
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The Bones You Have Cast Down, a novel set in late medieval Italy
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The Cosmic Tarot book, based on the tarot deck by German visionary artist Norbert Lösche
Episode #1
Q: Your background & how you became interested in Walt Whitman?
A:
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European background
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Outsider like Whitman
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Interest from college course
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19th century – time of change, tumult
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Period of “American Literature”
Episode #2
Q: What were the major early influences that shaped Whitman?
A:
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Born 1819, Quaker roots
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Raised in New York
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Thomas Paine - detached from the Bible
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Many literary influences – read like crazy
Episode #3
Q: What makes Leaves of Grass such a compelling ”American” poem?
A:
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Emerson – American poetry needs its own voice
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Leaves – The Great American Poem
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Evolved & took from all parts of his life
Episode #4
Q: What is your favorite Whitman poem and why?
A:
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“To A Stanger”
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The way I’d like to see people
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Strangers – people we actually know
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How we can be together
Episode #5
Q: What were Whitman’s views regarding slavery?
A:
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Completely opposed to slavery
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Not a real abolitionist
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Preserving the Union was essential
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Served as a nurse in Washington D.C. during Civil War
Episode #6
Q: Did Whitman write prose?
A:
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Lots of prose
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Temperance novel (fortified by whiskey)
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Lots of journalistic pieces
Episode #7
Q: Did Whitman mention or allude to Jews / Jewish People in any of his works?
A:
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General allusions – “The Hebrews”
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Horace Traubel – Jewish friend & biographer
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Well versed in the Bible
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Russian programs – cruel and barbarous treatment
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Open to immigration
Episode #8
Q: Why was Whitman so influential among “Jewish” poets?
A:
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Touches upon issue of (American) Jewish identity
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Allen Ginsburg & Karl Shapiro
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Dr. Barnett, Tel Aviv University – they found a spirituality in Whitman
Episode #9
Q: What can young people learn today from Whitman and his poems?
A:
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Whitman never gave up
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Believe in yourself and people
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Poetry can cultivate your inner sacred pride