Lowell, MA—The public is invited to a book launching for “I Am the Poem” by Thomas Mofford, who lived and worked for many years in the Andover-North Andover area. The event is set for Saturday, March 16, 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., at North Parish Church Hall, 190 Academy Road, in North Andover. Family members will read from the book, which we be available for purchase.
Mofford (1931-2016) taught English as a Second Language at Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill for 20 years. He and his wife, the author Juliet Haines Mofford, were active in community cultural and heritage activities in Andover-North Andover. She now resides in Bath, Maine. This is the first collection of writings by Thomas Mofford.
“Tom’s poems and meditations range from daily observations of nature and family life to explorations of the cosmos and reflections on tumultuous world events in his time,” says Paul Marion, publisher of Loom Press in Lowell, which is releasing the book. He admired the work of Carl Sandburg, Robert Lowell, W.D. Snodgrass, and the Beat Generation writers among others.
His wife Julie says, “Tom lived a literary life as a writer and reader and was particularly admired for his public readings. All his life, Tom was in love with learning. He possessed a deep curiosity about people everywhere and never ceased to be amazed by the wonders of the world.”
One of his former students, Cathleen Coburn, writes: “Mr. Mofford opened our minds, possibilities, thinking—teaching young people to think critically and outside the box.”
Thomas Mofford was a curricula reviewer for Scholastic publications, worked at one time as a reference librarian at Memorial Hall Library in Andover, and acted in numerous theater productions. From 1976 to 1980, he was a member of the Poets’ Lab writing workshop whose members met monthly at Memorial Hall Library. A Tufts University graduate, Mofford pursued graduate studies at Boston University, Boston State College, and Simmons College.
The book may be ordered at www.loompress.com or www.amazon.com