Valdese High School - Impersonator Yearbook (Valdese, NC)

Page 8 text:

The 1968 Impersonator Staff Presents A Sandburg Tribute ? “Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of youth... .. “Tf I had more time | I could do more for myself and maybe for others. I could read and study and talk things over and find out about things. It takes time. a I wish I had the time.”

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Contents Introduction ..... Events of the Year a Academics ...... As guidance counselor, Mrs. Buchanan accompanies juniors to college and career days. Activities'....... Athletics 2.0... Classes and Honors Advertisements .. . Epilogue ......... Mrs. Buchanan, always willing to devote time, explains an al- gebra problem.

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Carl Sandburg “These are the daily program items.”’ “The fog comes on little cat feet.” Anyone who ever knew Carl Sandburg or ever read his works knows that he offered memories. Through his poems he revealed humorously, sadly eloquently the “ashes” of his past, of his Swedish ancestry. A native of Illinois, he adopted North Carolina as his home; and North Carolinians and Sandburg developed a mutual love and admiration. We feel a particular closeness to him, the poet of the people. Power and vitality in his poems offer some- thing for everyone - - all people everywhere. In their universal aspect they were directed toward the youth of America, as in his great work “The People, Yes.”” We can identify with his philosophy, his view of life. He would have seen students as searchers, leaders, bursting with vitality and the dream of tomorrow. Sandburg wrote of America and her people in the manner of Walt Whitman, whom he greatly admired - - a natural, realistic, down-to-earth style that appeals to youth. From his realistic, powerful poems, such as “Chicago,” to his tender, delicately lovely “Fog,” he wrote truthfully and with a sensitive insight that opened all eyes to both bad and good in the world. Thus, an aching void has been formed by his recent death in July 21, 1967. A man such as Sandburg should have lived forever. But indeed he does live on in the things he wrote so that he will continue to give inspiration to our generation and the next as he did to his own. For these reasons the IMPERSONATOR staff pays tribute to Sandburg even as he often paid tri- bute to the youth of America in his works. We look at VHS through the eyes of the poet and find new meaning there.