W. H. Auden, Poetry, and Me: A 102-Year-old Reluctant Poet Reflects on Life, Poetry, and Her Famous Teacher in Bloomington, MN

On Wednesday afternoon, February 7, 1940, I boarded the subway to Midtown to West 12th Street and walked to The New School. I found the classroom--a huge amphitheater that held 250 students. The air was charged as people shifted and murmured all around me. I didn't speak to anyone. I couldn't. I was too excited for small talk. To me, he was as sensational as the Beatles were to girls in another generation. The possibility of seeing him in the flesh thrilled me to the core. All I could think about was that Auden was in that building somewhere, and that at any moment, he would be in that room. Then suddenly, the room fell silent as Auden stepped out onto the stage.
W.H. Auden, Poetry, and Me is a heartwarming story that fluctuates between Gladys's and Auden's life. We see how their lives mirror one another--their joy and pain, and their triumph and loss as they traveled the world, fell in love, and wrote poetry. Spanning the early 1930s to today, the story deals with such subjects as war, love, family, loss, homosexuality, pain, and triumph. This is the story of a woman who has faced adversity with humor and grace, and of the famous poet she loved. Through it all, Gladys bestows pearls of wisdom that only a 102-year-old can give.