[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 95 (Tuesday, July 8, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1366]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO GWENDOLYN BROOKS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 8, 1997

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I take this opportunity to 
acknowledge the 80th birthday of Ms. Gwendolyn Brooks, Poet Laureate of 
Illinois. Poet Laureate of Illinois; a communicator with the world, a 
song to be sung, a lesson to be learned, a life to be lived.
  Gwendolyn Brooks, a master of using the written word, is the author 
of more than 20 books. The highly acclaimed ``A Street in Bronzeville'' 
was the first, published in 1945. For three decades, her works were 
published by Harper & Row. However, for economic reasons, she switched 
to the black-owned Broadside Press in 1969 and in 1974, to the Third 
World Press.
  Gwendolyn Brooks was named Poet Laureate in 1968 and has continued to 
be relevant, fresh, and vibrant for all of these years. Therefore, our 
hats are off to a great American, a profound and prolific writer, a 
great humanitarian--Ms. Gwendolyn Brooks, Poet Laureate of Illinois.

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