It’s up to the rest of us now. Grace Paley has died.
She often said she liked to be out in the streets. And maybe her writing was as original, compressed, fresh and energetic as it was because it had to fight for attention with stopping the war(s), liberating women, bringing creative writing into the public schools, working for that elusive future where it’s the defense department, and not the daycare center, that has to hold a bake sale.
I saw her at Dodge Poetry Fest. What a snapping energy. Livewire fallen.