Poetic Obituaries: [Merle] Mollenkopf earned the unofficial title

of Kent's Poet Laureate.

"I think it was never official, but I think it was by consensus because he was so visible in the community of poets," Ragain said. "He knew everybody and showed up everywhere.

"Poetry was his life," he said. "It was the way he gave meaning to his life by anchoring himself in that great oral tradition."

Each year at Kent's Art in the Park festival Mollenkopf served as a sort of master of ceremonies by reading poetry in between artists on the main stage.

from KentPatch: Beloved Kent Poet Merle Mollenkopf Dies

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