Poems

When Laguna Beach filmmaker Christine Fugate saw Donna Hilbert read her poems ?In Quintana Roo? and ?Grief Becomes Me? in 2004, she felt inspired to make a film about the author, who transformed her grief into hope. Hilbert?s husband, Larry, was killed by a drunken driver on an early-morning bicycle ride in 1998. ?When I heard her speak, I could just see the images of her poetry in my mind,? Fugate said. ?At that moment, I thought, ?Wow, I want to take her poems and turn them into movies.

Poets of all ages are invited to submit their work to Word Art, the Laguna Beach Library's seventh annual poetry contest, taking place throughout the month of April. The contest celebrates National Poetry Month, and the winning entries will be published in a booklet to be printed by the library. Winning poets will also receive gift certificates from $10 to $50 redeemable at the Latitude 33 Bookstore in Laguna Beach. There are seven age categories: pre-kindergarten and kindergarten; first grade; second and third grades; fourth and fifth grades; sixth, seventh and eighth grade; high school; and adult.

Suzie Harrison Laguna Beach is where adult life began for poet Lee Mallory. His life has taken him along a winding path that included a loss of words, but he has found himself again where it all started. Last week, he unveiled his new book of poems at the Pale Ale Poets reading. Mallory moved to Laguna when he was newly married in June 1969. He was a recent graduate of UC Santa Barbara. Though he had written a bit in college, he developed his skill and affinity for words in Laguna.

Suzie Harrison It's doubtful that many have heard the words sexy and insects in the same sentence -- the two aren't usually paired up, except perhaps by entomologists. But artist Mike Tauber has paired the two words with many meanings ensued with his newest exhibition "Sexy Insects," which opens Tuesday at Woody's at Beach. "I started the new series last fall," Tauber said. "I was going through some personal struggles -- all artists have highs and lows and this was a typical low."

El Morro Elementary School third-graders are learning firsthand about their city's government and its emphasis on the arts. Third-grade teachers Dee Perry and Tamara Wong have spent the last five years working together on their curriculum, in which students create their own public art installations and take field trips to learn about the town. "The third-grade social studies curriculum is on studying your own community," Perry said. "And we were so lucky that the city had so much art."

Most California kids go to Carnegie Hall as part of a sightseeing excursion, bundled in with the Empire State Building and the Met. But Laguna Beach seventh-grader Colin Johnson was there onstage on June 15 — not to sing as part of a choir, but to accept several awards honoring his writing. Two of Colin's short stories — "Make the Moon Dance for Me" and "The Tomb Painter" — won gold medals in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards of 2007. A collection of poems, "In Götheréan," won the silver.

Suzie Harrison There's a whole lot of poetry going on in Orange County and to the untrained eye and ear, well, the verse just passes them by, and they're missing yet another art form prolific in Laguna Beach. Gone are the days of the stereotypical poet rhyming their words or reading poetry from the words of great poets past. A new breed of poets has replaced the stodgy stereotype. And these poets aren't the meek, mild-mannered archetype. They have morphed into a more gregarious being.

A budding poet has bloomed. El Morro fifth-grader Noah Hawkins Rosen has been writing poetry since he was in the third grade, but this summer, his poem, ?Inauguration,? will be published in the Harvard Educational Review. ?I?ve only written a few poems, and up to now I have been really bad at poetry,? 12-year-old Noah said. ?But I have been around my mom and her songs and that has helped.? Noah is the son of Leon and Bree Burgess Rosen, founder of ?Lagunatics? and noted for the clever lyrics that are the signature of the shows.

On any given day, the daily newspaper delivers stories of both the good and the bad in black and white. Subscribers of the medium learn that sometimes it is necessary to read between the lines. Every so often a story compels us to read beyond the words on the page. It is this place beyond, or more precisely, underground that local artist Bette McIntire explores in her handmade collages where she is the inventor of the Daily News. And while McIntire?s new gallery and working studio that opened to the public in December in the Laguna Village bears not a hint of the subterranean with its view of the Pacific, it is an ideal setting for appreciating a volume of work that calls attention to the depth of things.

Laguna Community Concert Band will bring back an old favorite, ?The Bells of Christmas,? as part of its free ?Swingin?, Singin? Holiday Concert? at 3 p.m. Sunday. Returning as mistress of ceremonies will be actress and local resident Lona Ingwerson, who will also narrate Henry Wordsworth Longfellow?s ?The Bells of Christmas.? ?I think it?s a show that families would really enjoy,? she said. ?It?s sort of a kickoff for the Christmas season.? Ingwerson said she was thrilled to volunteer her efforts to the organization.

Awards for the 12th annual Laguna Beach Library Poetry Contest were handed out at a ceremony and public reading with more than 100 people in attendance, according to Jim McCarty, adult services librarian. Each winner in seven categories read their winning poems and received a certificate, along with a gift certificate as a prize. The contest was funded by the Friends of the Library, a nonprofit organization that supports programs and special events for the library. The winners are: Adult First Place: Joan Ross, "The Dog Collar" Second Place: J. Hilary, "Me in my brand new hiking boots —" Third Place (Tie)

Fundraising concert for Feddy A concert to benefit singer/songwriter Jason Feddy will be held from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. June 14 at the Marine Room Tavern, 214 Ocean Ave., Laguna Beach. Feddy performs at the Festival of Arts, Sawdust Art Festival, City's Sunset Serenades, Mozambique and other venues. Earlier this year, Feddy was taken to the emergency room having suffered a seizure. He does not have health insurance to cover the medical costs. This concert is being held to help pay these bills, through the assistance of Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, a nonprofit that aims to provide financial assistance to career musicians who are struggling to make ends meet while facing illness, disability, or age-related problems.

The Laguna Canyon Conservancy celebrated the 20th anniversary of “The Walk,” Monday night at the monthly meeting at Tivoli Terrace. Always capitalized in Laguna, The Walk is credited with swaying Irvine Co. owner Donald Bren to acquiesce to the sale of the Laguna Laurel development, approved for 3,200 dwellings and a commercial area. About half the folks at the meeting Monday raised their hands when asked how many were among the estimated 8,000 folks who made the walk on Nov. 11, 1989, down Laguna Canyon Road to the Tell.

When Laguna Beach filmmaker Christine Fugate saw Donna Hilbert read her poems ?In Quintana Roo? and ?Grief Becomes Me? in 2004, she felt inspired to make a film about the author, who transformed her grief into hope. Hilbert?s husband, Larry, was killed by a drunken driver on an early-morning bicycle ride in 1998. ?When I heard her speak, I could just see the images of her poetry in my mind,? Fugate said. ?At that moment, I thought, ?Wow, I want to take her poems and turn them into movies.