Anne S. Kaplan

When you get a chance, look at the cover of Fat Poets Speak 2: Living and Loving Fatly.

The poet on the cover is Anne S. Kaplan, who is now a life coach.

Take a look at the biography of Anne in the Biographies section.

Anne is smiling on the cover. Her smile makes me think of the some of the lyrics in the Jackson Browne song, "Fountain of Sorrow."

"You were turning 'round to see who was behind you
And I took your childish laughter by surprise
And at the moment that my camera happened to find you
There was just a trace of sorrow in your eyes."

I won't talk about what Anne went through in her life to get to the point where she could start writing the poems she has written. You can see this in her bio.

I made one of those dreadfully embarrassing mistakes editors make from time to time and submitted an altered version of one of Anne's poems, one she did not approve which was shortened, and with different punctuation. Of course Anne caught the mistake immediately, and our  publisher, Peggy Elam/Pearlsong Press, changed the files so that Anne's poem would read correctly.

At first I was disgusted with myself and with the idea that an altered version of a poem could somehow find its way into the manuscript I was submitting. Then I realized it was kind of wonderful to find that Anne was proud enough of the poems she had written to fight for their correct insertion into the book.

Anne actually cares enough now about her poems to make sure they appear in the correct version. And that trace of sorrow? I hope it will turn to a trace of gladness when she receives her author's copies -corrected- of Fat Poets Speak 2:  Living and Loving Fatly.