Ed Note: Donald Hall, a former poet laureate of the United States who found a universe of meaning in the apples, ox carts and ordinary folk of his beloved rural New England, died on June 24th of this year. I’ve not yet read any of his essays on aging but the reviews are glowing. What books do you have on your “must read” list.
From a reviewer: “Burnished by the honesty which comes with extreme age and mellowed by the inevitable absence of the loved ones who have preceded them, writers approaching their own demise have much to offer the perceptive reader. This collection of posthumously published short essays and epigrammatic vignettes is surprisingly lighthearted despite Hall’s descriptions of his physical infirmities. Encountering these prose musings often seems like discovering a cache of Rembrandt’s paintings tucked away in a deceased grandparent’s dusty attic. These final fragments of Hall’s long and productive literary life are worthy of contemplation by readers approaching the end of their own allotted spans with either dread or anticipation.”