Where Is Walt Whitman? Weren’t We Supposed to Look Under Our Boot-Soles?

New Jersey Hall of Fame

Who could quarrel with Meryl Streep,

beguiling chameleon, top of the heap,

or Buzz Aldrin, second man on the moon,

a likeable guy, emotive, old too soon,

or Thomas Alva, over 1,000 patents,

more flops than any but lights galore gents,

or Yogi Berra, who said some hum-dingers

and claims other attributed zingers,

or Einstein and Springstein, who both

for science and music broke the mold

or Harriet Tubman who traveled at night,

felt the moss on trees to know

she was headed right

But how can we omit

even from the first round

Ben Shahn and Sarah Vaughn

from the temples of art and music

or Toshiko and Yass

who’ve potted and mimed the sublime

what about, say, Grover Cleveland

and Woodrow Wilson who rose to the presidency

or the late departed George Segal

who celebrated his Helen in work white and ethereal?

Update: On May 2, 2009, Walt Whitman was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in the second round.

McVay worked for Princeton University for 11 years, served as founding executive director of the Robert Sterling Clark and Geraldine R. Dodge foundations, and was 16th president of the Chautauqua Institution.