On May 31, 1819 Walt Whitman was born in Huntington, Long Island (which has been in the news lately for less auspicious reasons). From there, the second of nine children grew up to become one of the America's greatest wordsmiths, not to mention arguably the patron saint of Brooklyn—as the editor of the Brooklyn Eagle he helped push for the creation of Fort Greene Park in 1843! So how are you going to celebrate the 193rd birthday of the man? We've got some suggestions!
To start, the Poetry Foundation has quite a few works from the "latter-day successor to Homer, Virgil, Dante and Shakespeare's" on their website worth perusing (here's one we've always liked). But if you want to make it a little more physical, why not take this well-researched 90 minute self-guided walking tour that mixes a glimpse of what remains of Whitman's New York with his own poetry. Or just read it, you'll learn something!
Or, sit back and let Whitman himself (with a strange animation) read "Mannahatta" from Leaves of Grass (a book which, by the way, Mark Ruffallo has been tweeting from all day):
Oh, you want more? You don't have to look far. But you can always revisit some of his Brooklyn. Or sit back and listen to a reading from Whitman's immortal poem, "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" (originally titled "Sun-Down Poem") read by the inimitable Galway Kinnell at the Fulton Street Landing, as he does every year for the Poet's House walk (which is coming up!).
