Coming Attractions-WW II Poet Warriors starring Carl Sandburg

The death of eloquent radio writer Norman Corwin this week reminded me how America harnessed the power of poetry to conquer the evil empires of Germany and Japan in World War II.

Writing patriotic dramas, Corwin was inspired by Walt Whitman’s poetry of the Civil War era. Another one of our foremost poets--Carl Sandburg--wrote propaganda during World War II.

Carl Sandburg is most identified with Illinois, but he started his career as a Wisconsin newspaper reporter. Later, he was an editorial writer for the Chicago Daily News. He was awarded two Pulitzer Prizes for his poetry and his books about Lincoln. ( I'm proud to say that I had an investigative story published in the Chicago Daily News in the 1960s that resulted in Chicago banning sprayed asbestos used in the construction of skyscrapers.)