Poet Holds True to High Vision Throughout Eighty-Two Years

   "Beauty, brotherhood, and bread - these are his cardinal points in life. He expresses it through extremely beautiful musical poetry and he's held true to the vision in all his works," Mrs. Daily [sic] went on. "Listen to this poem he wrote when he was eight[y] years old:

THE LOOK AHEAD

I am done with the years that were: 

I am quits:

I am done with the dead and old.

They are mines worked out: I delved in their pits:

I have saved their grain of gold.

Now I turn to the future for wine and bread:

I have bidden the past adieu.

I laugh and lift hands to the yeas ahead:

"Come on: I am ready for you!"

   Mrs. Daly [sic] is a close friend of the poet's, whom she came to know very well when he lived in San Jose. One of her chief treasures is the handwritten stanzas from "Virgilia", a poem that she considers far superior to his other works. "The Crowning Hour" also ranks high in her estimation of Edwin Markham's ever-living poetry.

   Mr. Markham is a unique character in the world of literature in that money, as money, has never affected him. He lives to meet people, talk with them, to befriend them, to write for them. Time means nothing to him; he often becomes "lost" on lecture tours, and not even his wife knows where to look for him.

   Simplicity is the chief characteristic to Mr. Markham. Once when he was to be in San Jose overnight, a friend said, "What shall we do tonight?"

   "Let's go to Alum Rock and have a picnic," he replied quickly.

   Living close to people has always been a hobby of the poet's. Seeking new experiences and new people are always entertaining, he finds. Just day before yesterday, he took his first airplane ride from Los Angeles to San Francisco. "I'm a converted flyer now," he smiles.

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