ENTERTAINMENT > BOOKS

		Robert Lundy and Elizabeth Yahn Williams

Thanks to the efforts of Del Mar resident Robert Lundy and his Guidelights Productions partner, Elizabeth Yahn Williams, a unique public arts event is set for 12:30 p.m. March 7 at the Escondido Municipal Art Gallery, 262 E. Grand Ave., Escondido.

The duo put together the book "Summation 2009-10: The Merging of Art and Poetry," which will be released at the meeting of Poets INC, an independent group of Inland North County poets. The book is based on an exhibition installed at the Escondido Municipal Art Gallery from December 2009 to Jan. 4, 2010, and contains reproductions of the work of 37 artists and the words of 20 poets.

The event will begin with readings from the featured poet of the month, followed by a book reception at 2 p.m.

A passion for poetry helped Lundy get through a dark time in his life. Although he came from a family that enjoyed poetry, he spent most of his career as a demographer and systems analyst. Life changed for him a little more than 10 years ago when, during the course of a few years, he was laid off from two jobs, his mother-in-law died, and his wife lost her battle with cancer.

As both a time-filler and a therapeutic form of creative self-expression, Lundy rediscovered poetry. "I was looking for things to get involved in, and since I'd always liked poetry, I decided to form a poetry club with a friend of mine, Bob Garland from Solana Beach. The club was supported by the Solana Beach Library," Lundy said. "I brought along Ogden Nash works and read him, then I started writing my own work." The library brought in a poetry director, Williams, to facilitate writing seminars with the group. Due to budget cuts, the library canceled the program after a year, but Lundy and Williams remained friends.

"That's when I really started writing a lot of poetry," Lundy recalled. "Elizabeth would invite me for dinner and say, 'OK, no food until you have written a poem.' It was amazing the number of poems I wrote about food during that time."

Their partnership has since led to a performance-based duet, known as Hither and Yahn, and a joint effort in publishing poetry books. Go to www.hitherandyahn.com.

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Diane Y. Welch Diane Y. Welch is a Solana Beach resident. She writes a monthly Meet Your Neighbor column for the Solana Beach Sun. E-mail her at dianewelch@dianewelch.com.

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