Who are your influences?
My father was/is my biggest influence. He is, to me, a working class hero. He worked as a roofer
on Long Island, New York, often in the Hamptons where he found himself tarring the roofs
over the socially elite’s lives. One of the most memorable anecdotes he would share with us is
how he would talk to prominent people, like Willem de Kooning, as if they were anyone else. I
could picture my father, a mammoth of a man (both physically and mentally), in his work clothes
shaking the delicate hands of the privileged without reservation. Lines are drawn way too often
in our lives, which of course is also the case in the literary world. My father helped me to look
at people, including myself, for who they are and the quality of what they produce. He taught
me to have equal respect for the garbage man and the President and I believe that has greatly
influenced the way I not only approach life, but also writing. He also taught me to work hard and
I apply that to writing. I write every night; I have learned that you can’t wait for the muse to find
you, just like you can’t expect someone to pay your bills or fix your sink. Don Winter, a poet I
deeply admire, wrote a great article: “press of the real: poetry of the working class” that delves
into the literary relevance of working class poetry. I think my father’s teachings were rooted
in working class values and I am more than thankful for all that he gave me.
In addition, oodles of other writers inspire me such as Nathan Graziano, Daniel Crocker, Julie
Buffaloe-Yoder, Annie Menebroker, John Dorsey, Marianne Moore, Lorine Neidecker, Martin
Espada, Sherman Alexie, Cathy Song, Kell Roberston and I could go on forever.
