Part 3: The Aftermath
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| Link to art page |
Carl Sandburg died on July 22, 1967 in Flat Rock, North Carolina, at the age of 89. He was thirty-five years old when he published "Chicago" in 1914, and would be the first of what would later be a nine poem collection titled "Chicago Poems," published in 1916.
Before his death, however, and after his success with "Chicago," Sandburg would go on to win three Pulitzer Prizes(1919, 1940, 1951), one Robert Frost Medal(1952), and even a Grammy(1959) for "Best Spoken Word." Yet with "Chicago," he had landed into the world of letters like a raging meteor coming for the dinosaurs, enjoying a celebrated life to come.
His birth home on Galesburg, Illinois was turned into a memorial during his lifetime; he is the only known poet invited to address congress, which he did in 1959; he appeared on a variety of television shows such as "The Ed Sullivan Show," the "Texaco hour," and the "Today Show" to name a few; and even managed to have Gene Kelly dance to one of his poems. The nation knew of him and celebrities doted over him, yet with all his super-stardom, he would always be the workingman's poet. His simple and direct words for the layman would resonate with even the most exulted of readers and critics.
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| Sandburg meeting with Marilyn Monroe |
In "Chicago," Sandburg would do more for the city than simply bestow an inadvertent moniker; he would give the people a sense of youthful pride, an undaunting swag, and a wholly unique identity rivaled only by the '85 Chicago Bears and the Michael Jordan era Chicago Bulls.
After his death Sandburg left an indelible mark on, not only the literary world, but Chicago itself. His name graces the the walls and halls of Carl Sandburg Middle School in Elmhurst, IL., and the Carl Sandburg High School in Orland park, IL., both renamed during his lifetime. And aside from various other malls, libraries, and landmarks bearing the poet's name, he is also the inspiration of the "Carl Sandburg Award" promoted by the Chicago Public Library. And, in December 2011 in only its second annual induction ceremony, Sandburg took his rightful place in the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame with other giants of Chicago literature. His ashes are buried along his wife's at his childhood home in Galesburg, Illinois.
Note: there is so much more information on Carl Sandburg. If you're curious to learn more I attached a couple of links below. Also, PBS produced a great "American Masters" episode of Carl Sandburg. It's a high honor, this. Check out the embedded video
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