Walking Each Other Home

Intimate conversations on writing and life by notable poets of the 20th Century

BOOK REVIEW

Written by Michael Hogan

Reviewed by Des Sjoquist

During our lifetime we cross paths with literally thousands of human beings. Every once in a while, we recognize one that is particularly impactful and special. I had the good fortune of crossing paths with Dr. Michael Hogan many years ago, and realized he is one such special person. His most recent publication, Walking Each Other Home, is a collection of stories about some of the special individuals that Hogan crossed paths with during his life that significantly impacted him as a poet and person.

Each chapter is dedicated to a poet whom Hogan met and shared a moment of his life journey with. A master storyteller, poet, writer, historian, social advocate, writer, teacher, and mentor, Hogan magically weaves history, social justice, literacy, pedagogy, humor, and reflections about life into each of the conversations he had with these poets/mentors. Hogan’s definition of poetry evolved over time as the different mentors influenced his development as a poet. He states, “Poetry is original, concrete, and usually figurative language, with moment and movement, crafted in such a way as to evoke an emotional response or intellectual leap.” Hogan integrates poetry (from himself, his mentors, and many other classics) into each of the conversations, in such a way that it does truly evoke an emotional response or intellectual leap. This book is about the process of writing/analyzing poetry, but in typical Hogan style, it is so much more.

From his conversation with Steve Orlen, Hogan states “Poetry is really about life, right? Like Frost said, a love affair with life. Maybe sometimes even helping us how to live it fully, even though we never quite manage it. So, our lives consist of creating something out of the mess we’ve made.” Hogan’s candid personal sharing about his struggles with addiction, loss of his father, and the tragic sudden death of his son highlight how he created something out of the different messes in his life. “It was as if the alcohol spirits had killed the Spirit which had gifted me with words and inspired me in the past.” We are so grateful that he overcame the challenges and fought the demons to regain his Spirit and gift of language and story. His poems always invoke feelings and thoughts within my tired brain, reminding me to wake up and “think hard for us all,” as Naomi Shihab Nye says in his conversation with her.

At one of the lowest points in his life after the loss of his son, Hogan recalls a conversation with Ms. Soledad Avalos where she told him, “But you could be a truly great teacher if you could begin to see your son in the eyes of every child you teach. It would transform your classes into something special. You would leave a legacy which would be remembered for a long time.”

Through this tragedy, Hogan learned how to create meaning out of meaningless loss. He has created a living legacy with all of the students, educators and aspiring writers he has crossed paths with over the past eighty years. Hogan believes “we heal each other by our willingness to risk the hug, the openness, the sharing of our feelings, and—in the process—we come to see our son in everybody’s son, our daughter in everyone’s daughter.” What a beautiful and inspirational way to see the world.

Sadly, one cannot help but wonder if Michael Hogan didn’t write this book as a final chapter to his amazing life. He ends his conversation about Orlen with “I think it may have helped him to die as well when that fatal day arrived. Maybe that’s the way to be in the world and then leave it gracefully, more in love with it for all the people we’ve known.” From his conversation with William Stafford, he states “We have the freedom to define our life, our story, our sculpture, and we need to recognize that this is a power which is not absolute or unconditional.”

The final chapter of the book describes Hogan’s conversation and co-teaching of a class with Ray Bradbury. He concludes the conversation with “That was his (Bradbury’s) gift to us at the end. He not only taught writing but living, and in the end, how to experience a good death, still vibrant and aware and present both there and here, more in love with the world for everyone we’ve met and everything we’ve experienced along the way.”

I truly hope (and 100% believe!) there are many more poems, stories, chapters, and lessons to learn from Dr. Michael Hogan. In reading Walking Each Other Home, we are challenged to think deeply about our lives, the natural world around us, and our purpose. We are made to have emotional responses and take intellectual leaps. You will laugh, you will cry, you will learn, and you will be inspired to be a better person as you turn each page. The “darkness around us is deep” and we need more inspirational souls like Hogan to teach us how to see the light through the many challenges that we will surely face in our future. Poets never fully understand or appreciate the impact their words have on the reader, often long after the poet has moved on to the next phase of their journey. Dr. Hogan, like his 25 poet mentors that he writes about, will never fully understand or appreciate the significant impact he has had on the thousands of humans he has crossed paths with. I, for one, will be forever grateful to him for his wisdom and inspiration. Thanks for teaching me to be a better person, Doc.

Des Sjoquist – a retired high school principal from the American School Foundation of Guadalajara currently living in Canada, but who has part of his soul forever grounded in Mexico.