November 6, 2008
Ashland, Oregon
www.roguenews.net
Vol. III Issue II
Pretty in pink every Monday by Žena Shelton
port no matter what.” Wearing pink first For the office staff began when Tess at Ashland High Razzano, the RegSchool, wearing pink istrar, bought all every Monday isn’t the office ladies just a fashion statepink breast cancer ment; it represents bracelets, and from something much there it escalated more sentimental. into Pink Mondays. Sheila Holtey, a Holtey believes secretary in the that medical technolmain office, was diogy has made it easiagnosed with breast er to detect cancer at cancer in November earlier stages, thereof 2007. She had fore giving people just begun worka higher chance of ing at AHS when, at survival. one of her regular She would like to mammograms, the remind all women to doctor found some have regular exams suspicious bumps. A with their physicians, biopsy later showed not to smoke, to eat one breast posihealthily, to exercise tive for cancer, and regularly and to be an additional MRI aware if women showed cancer in Photo by Phoebe Parker-Shames in their families both breasts. The office ladies, from left to right; Jennifer Grisham, Karen Stewart, Callie Mercer, Glenda Walsh, Sheryl Walters, Amy Hopkins, have a history At first Holtey was Tess Razzano, Sheila Holtey, Michelle Gordon, all wear pink to show their support for Holtey’s battle with cancer of breast cancer. shocked, in denial, tally gone after undergoing chemotherapy, wearing pink to show their support for As a final note to and then felt afraid, for both her- radiation and taking Herceptin to combat Holtey while she was receiving treatment. her battle with breast cancer, Holtey self and her family. But later she the HER2 protein in one of her breasts. Karen Stewart, an Educational Assistant, would like to thank the AHS comhad “an intense desire for knowl- But she won’t know for sure until she has said, “We didn’t want to keep asking her munity for all the kindness. “We’re a edge on what to do and who to see.” follow-up tests in November of this year. [Holtey] how she was doing, but we wanted family here and we all support each Holtey hopes that her cancer is toThe ladies of the main office started to have a visual way to say that she had sup- other.”
Li-Young Lee: “a modern day philosopher” by Jeffrey Star
Poet Li-Young Lee speaks about his approach to writing at a luncheon held in his honor.
Photo submitted by Cathy DeForest
By 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 23, there was not an empty seat in the Mountain Avenue Theatre. A crowd of chattering students and community members alike, from all backgrounds and of all ages, eagerly awaited the man who had brought them together that evening, uniting them in their love of one art form: poetry. Li-Young Lee, the man of the hour, walked softly onto the simple stage amid torrential applause. His black hair was pulled back into a messy knot above his head, revealing a handsome, sensitive face. “Thank you all for your generous attention,” he began in a gentle voice. The audience chuckled, feeling the apparent irony of his statement. But for Li-Young Lee, the 51-year-old Asian-American poet, it wasn’t irony. It was the humility he lives and writes with always. One might think, for instance, that the man who has written four critically acclaimed books, and won numerous awards for his work, would consider himself fairly knowledgeable about poetry. Lee, instead, feels that his education is just beginning. “The more I write, the less I understand. The less I
know what I’m doing,” he said. Thanks to the efforts of the Chautauqua Poets and Writers, an Ashland foundation, Lee shared his wisdom and poetry with the local community over two whirlwind days. He began in the morning of Thursday, Oct. 23 on Jefferson Public Radio, then attended a luncheon held in his honor at the Ashland Public Library, ran a workshop with Ashland teachers, and closed out the day with his poetry reading in the Mountain Avenue Theatre. The next morning, he gave another 90-minute seminar at the Hannon Library, attended by about 30 students from AHS and SOU.This was the 6th poet that has been brought to Ashland by the Chautauqua foundation, previous artists including Ted Kooser, Robert Pinsky, and Naomi Shihab Nye. For Kathi Bowen-Jones, an AHS teacher and member of the Chautauqua board, Lee’s appearances were the culmination of a two-year process of fundraising and organization. She works to bring poets to Ashland to enhance the education of both students and the community. “What better teachers can we have?” The event, she said, fulfills the original purpose of Chautauqua societies: to “bring the community
together for communication and conversation.” Wherever he went, Lee spoke about his unique view on writing and poetry. “Poetry is a proposition on personhood,” he told the students at the workshop. “Writing poetry is giving up all interest in yourself.” Students were inspired and enlightened by his words. “It was interesting, just to hear a modern-day philosopher think about life,” said senior Max Parker-Shames, who introduced Lee at the poetry reading and has managed Chautauqua’s website for the past two months. “He’s an unassuming person, but he has a lot to say.” “He’s a very deep thinker,” agreed Ford Murawski-Brown, a freshman who attended both the reading and the Friday morning workshop. Li-Young Lee’s deep thoughts flowed freely to the attentive audience on Thursday night, on everything from writing (“Poetry is a negotiation between randomness and probability”) to being (“In order to get along in society, we function as a small bandwidth of who we really are”). For that hour, at least, everyone could see the world as he sees it – “like a giant poem.”