Local publishes first book of poetry


Thursday, October 12, 2006
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Local publishes first book of poetry; available at museum and Square Books

The simple rhymes from the pen of a self-described simple poet are offered for the enjoyment of readers who do not take their poetry too seriously. Most of these poems have previously appeared in the monthly newsletter of Memphis Mensa, a few were written during his misspent youth as a merchant seaman, and the rest were written for family members.

J.R. Dunworth, poet laureate of the Memphis chapter of Mensa, submitted an entry for that position five years ago. The entry was a poem which had to contain the words: googol, lapidary, collimate, quinquagenarian, prestidigitation, zarf, diatomaceous and xylotomy. He doesn’t know if anyone else submitted a poem, but he has held the post for five years now.

Dunworth was born in 1936 in East St. Louis, Illinois, and was educated by the Sisters of Loretto, the Brothers of Mary, the United States government, and the state of California. He is a 1958 graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy and a 1973 graduate of Hastings College of the Law.

He has served as a naval officer, merchant seaman, shipmaster, and a Panama Canal pilot. He was in the private practice of law for two years and served four years as admiralty attorney of the Panama Canal Company.

He and his wife Sofia moved permanently to Holly Springs in 1998, to the house they’d purchased eight years before. “We will probably never finish restoring the house. It has become a lifetime hobby,” Dunworth said.

The book is now available at the Marshall County Historical Museum and Square Books in Oxford.

Mississippi Moonlight
Summer nights in Mississippi
Have got a feel that’s all their own
Whether farm or sleepy city
The scents of grass, recently mown
And honeysuckle fill the air.

Fireflies wink, and the lovebugs pair
Darkness softened in a silver tone,
Night zephyrs are taking pity
On good folks sun baked to the bone
Summer nights in Mississippi

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