DC Poet Jacklyn Potter

A great loss for the DC poetry scene: Jacklyn Potter recently passed away of a sudden heart attack. From her Washington Post 4/18/06 obituary:

"Jacklyn Wayne Potter, 62, a poet and teacher of English as a second language, died of a heart attack April 10 at Holy Cross Hospital. She lived in Silver Spring. Ms. Potter was born near Camp Lejeune, N.C., and grew up in Alexandria. As a child, she performed as a singer on radio, television and the stage. She was a graduate of the old Groveton High School and of George Washington University. She received a master's degree in creative writing from American University in the early 1980s.Ms. Potter was director of the Joaquin Miller Cabin Poetry Series in Washington from 1984 until her death. She won a number of prizes for her poetry, which appeared in the Washington Review, the Hollins Critic and several anthologies, including "Whose Woods These Are," "Quiet Music" and "Weavings 2000: The Maryland Millennial Anthology."

When I first came to DC, Jacklyn selected my work for the Joaquin Miller Cabin Poetry Reading Series. She called me up and I think we must have talked-- literally-- for three hours. I remember her as thoughtful, vivacious and genuinely commmitted to poetry. Joaquin Miller was a DC poet of the 19th century. His cabin, which is in now in a grassy meadow within Rock Creek Park, originally stood in what is now Malcolm X Park. Read more about Jacklyn and the reading series at the WordWorks.