anna machmer of virginia, from the second book of poems in this project, passed away this month.

i just heard word from virginia today that anna machamer, whose berkshire knitting mills poem was in my second volume of poetry, passed away on the 10th of june at the age of 98. her obituary ran in the washington post today. 

i interviewed anna by phone in 2016, after emailing the questions for her to read in advance with help from her son ron. she became the first and only person i interviewed from outside of pennsylvania for this project. and her charm even by phone seemed distinct and genuine, like it'd be very easy to love her in-person.

you can see anna's poem excerpt here.

this is a re-posting of the photographs ron sent to me before i interviewed her. in the first, she stands with her husband wellington in some life-minute before their marriage, when they both worked at berkshire knitting mills. the second picture is more recent.

reading about more in anna's life put me in awe. since i only asked her about one job in her life, and in pennsylvania, i had no idea she has such vast experiences and testing out of so many angles of skills. working in a research lab, making anti-aircraft detonator shells, acting as a caretaker for the grandchildren of president eisenhower, and creating a backyard like a small, and beautiful park are just some of the points which stood out so interestingly in reflections of her life. 

i also loved reading that she spent time playing along and probably in the schuylkill river as a child, since i spend as much time by the river as i can and teach my traveling poetry class there, along different sections. rivers are such an important resource to our hearts, more than i think people sometimes realize. but if you do spend some time at them, you see that they change you, and for the better. so i am always grateful when i stumble across people who have known the value of a beloved local river, especially away from the fierce distraction of electronics and and work obligations consuming our lives today.

upcoming monthly poetry readings from july to october 2017.

finally (phewww, getting up to 25 interviews with seniors has been a unique challenge this year), here is a lineup of monthly poetry readings to share the poems from the third and final book in this project, the labors of our fingertips: poems from manufacturing history of berks county. i'll be sending this info out to those who are on the email list soon, too.

if you are able to attend any of these poetry readings or have any questions about them, please feel free to reach out via email at thelaborsofourfingertips at yahoo dot com. and remember that a handful of volume 1 books are still available. more of volume 2 are available. and volume 3 will be published by august into september 2017. all books are $20, including tax, and can be purchased at poetry readings, a few local shops, the gofundme campaign, or by reaching out here directly.

• sunday, july 23 @ 1 p.m. at @ studio b in boyertown, 39a east philadelphia avenue, boyertown, pa 19512

• thursday, august 3 @ 6 p.m. @ berks bards' first thursday poetry open mic @ goggleworks center for the arts @ 201 washington street, reading, pa 19601

• thursday, september 7 @ 7 p.m. @ the hamburg area high school in its community room via the hamburg area historical society @ 701 windsor street, hamburg, pa 19526

• sunday, october 8 @ 1 p.m. @ studio b in boyertown, 39a east philadelphia avenue, boyertown, pa 19512

and here are some eye-scenes of people in my final book who i hope may be able to participate as special guests at these events. coordinating efforts for that are in the works.

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betty seifrit worked at boyertown auto body works. she built the left-hand side doors of army trucks and later moved into electrical work on truck bodies.

russell copeland worked at the letisse handbag factory in his teenage years and later at continental can in the city of reading. his granddaughter shown in this picture has ties to his can work. but that tidbit is saved for later.

harold schoenly worked at the boyertown casket company and later the boyertown planing company, which is still in business since 1913.

automotive poetry-- a reading at the boyertown museum of historic vehicles.

in late may, the boyertown museum of historic vehicles hosted a poetry reading from this project during the still slightly new fourth friday art walk in boyertown.

throughout the night, people ventured up to the top of town to visit the museum and hear poems read about the special guests, walter delong, born in 1936, who worked at boyertown auto body works, jerry rothermel, born in 1949, who worked at tung-sol which specialized in headlight production for vehicles, and willie kramer, born in 1932, who did color-matching and leather-cutting work for the seats of automobiles at garden state tanning.

the wives of the guest were also a part of the reading and brought in some of their own reflections about the work from their viewpoints, and some other guests talked about their old jobs, including some allergic reactions to materials in the manufacturing process. oofh. (not cool, but surely useful for the telling.)

some visitors arrived later, wanting to hear jerry's poem, so i sat and vocalized it for them, close so ears would suit well for listening. they were his relatives who'd heard about the event at the museum but couldn't get there earlier in the evening. and jerry is related to walter by marriage. so family ties were weaving through the night a bit.

willie donated a large piece of automotive leather from his former workplace to the museum at the end of the night, too.

thank you to lillee grace hetrick for her assistance with some of the photography for this poetry reading at the museum.

and some museum scenes.