num_pages: 88
description:       Includes        "Of History and Hope,"        the 1997 Presidential Inaugural Poem      When Miller Williams        read his Inaugural Poem, "Of History and Hope," to a world-wide        audience in January, his proverbial "fifteen minutes of fame"        lasted far less--somewhere between three and four minutes. That was long        enough to make a big impact on many. Said poet Paul Zimmer, one of the        millions in his viewing audience, "I came up out of my Lazy-Boy and        cheered loudly!"      Williams is an        American original whose poems have been praised for both the elegance        of their style and the simplicity of their language, for their wonderful        humor and genuine passion. The works in his newest collection, The        Ways We Touch, may be nostalgic or challenging, humorous or full of        moral fortitude; always Williams speaks with the kind of insight that        rises from wisdom and experience.      Praise for Williams's        earlier       "Miller        Williams is one of those writers whose books drag me snorkeling happily        along. Happy as a pig among truffles, I hurry to the next treasure."        -- William Stafford      "Most contemporary        poets might well go to him for lessons in the art of speaking plainly        in disciplined lines alive with emotional energy." -- X. J. Kennedy      "Better        than almost anything else being published." -- Donald Justice 
language: English
title: The Ways We Touch: Poems
titlecomplete: The Ways We Touch: Poems (Illinois Poetry Series)
genres: Poetry
ratings_count: 23
publisher: University of Illinois Press