Discovering Dave Russell

I was recently given a book of poems by Dave Russell, Verses from a Vermont Hillside. Dave spent most of his life as a lathe operator and farmer in rural Vermont. He's now in his mid-90's and only recently stopped cutting his own firewoood. Here's one of my favorites:

The Psalm of David

I am a man; my destiny is in my hands.
Whatever I shall have or be
Whatever I have been,
Is, was, and will be my own doing.

I could blame my failures on luck.
I could lay the fault at my neighbor’s doorstep.
I could say that my wife or family influenced me.

I could thank God for my successes.
I could curse the Devil for my failures,
But to do or say any of these
Is to brand myself a liar

God Has made me what I am,
And God granted our forefathers the foresight
To crystallize the American Dream
And thus blessed me with American freedom.
Beyond this His responsibility ends.

Mine is the task, chose by intent
Or drifted into by default
To be or not to be
The man that God gave me the chance to be.


I passed it along to my friends at the Good Man Project. They want to include the poem on their website, but did not know how to contact him. After thinking about different ways - his grandson has a website, I suggested (drumroll) ....the phone book! I'd forgotten the old days where you looked people up in the phone book or through directory assistance.