Dying with Robert Mitchum

By Marylou Kelly Streznewski

Dying with Robert Mitchum powerfully attests to the fact that you don't have to have been to war to be a "war poet." From memories going back to the earliest days of World War II to witnessing, if only from afar, contemporary wars in the Balkans, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, Streznewski poignantly records the impact of violence, injustice, indifference, and cruelty not only on those who suffer directly, but on all who have eyes, hearts and souls. She writes with quiet grace and unassuming conscience. I have seldom been so wonderfully surprised, as I was when I read these poems. -W.D. Ehrhart, author of The Bodies Beneath the Table In her new book Marylou Kelly Streznewski reminds for some, and introduces to others, the heart and soul of what war-any war-claims from those at home living under its dark wing. Her tightly-lyrical and translucent verse arrests in split-second images that brand themselves into the flesh of lifelong memory. Set time aside: you will want to read each poem at least twice before turning the page. And then begin again. -Bernadette McBride, author of Food, Wine and Other Considerations - An Alphabet Don't know who Robert Mitchum was? Check out all those movies in which he died gallantly in war after romanticized war. "If this is Armageddon, if this is how we end / I would want them to know, those who dig /, in our ruins, who we were, how we lived." In Dying with Robert MItchum, Marylou Kelly Streznewski helps us to understand not just how we lived, but how we also took life. The key word in the title is the preposition with. This courageous, clear-sighted book by an "anti-war Mama," of a West Point graduate stands witness to the complex and disturbing forces that lead our species again and again into the crucible of armed conflict. This book reminds us not to look away, but to ask hard questions and to be brave enough to seek answers and, above all, to face this troubled world with empathy and intelligence. -Christopher Bursk, author of The first Inhabitants of Arcadia

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0692418717
• ISBN13: 9780692418710
• Release Date: March 2015
• Publisher: Aldrich Press
• Length: 44 Pages
• Weight: 0.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.1" x 6.0"