About Jodi: Jodi Miller-Hunter has an MFA in poetry from Eastern Washington University. She works as a proofreader, editor, and reiki practitioner. She is an editor and book designer for Lynx House Press and lives with her family in Spokane.
Why I chose this poem: I chose "Fall" this because I it is beautiful. It is one of my favorites. But I also chose it because Kerry’s poetry is known for its storytelling, and this piece stands out for its “literary” qualities—image, simile and rhythm.
About Kerry: Kerry Rutherford (1948–2024) was a third-generation Washingtonian. A self-proclaimed “wandering hippie chick” in her youth, she went on to work in a wide range of jobs, from cannery worker to elementary school teacher to grant writer, and lived in a variety of places—Alaska, Indiana, Ohio, Seattle, and, finally, Spokane, the place where she felt she’d found her true home.
She earned three master’s degrees in her 70s—nonfiction, poetry, and history—and had a startling knowledge of astrology. Her ability to make and keep friends across all of the usual boundaries of age, gender, class and religion brought countless strangers together in community. She had one child. She is the author of In Search of Groovy, available at Auntie’s Bookstore.