Hi everyone,
I’ve known about this for some time and have mentioned it, but yesterday a press release made it official. Here’s how it reads.
Mayor appoints David Harrison Poet Laureate for National Route 66 Centennial Kickoff Celebration
David L. Harrison, Springfield’s favorite children’s book author, poet and elementary school namesake, has been appointed Poet Laureate for the National Route 66 Centennial Kickoff Celebration by Mayor Jeff Schrag. The centennial kickoff celebration will take place in Springfield, which is known as the Birthplace of Route 66, April 30-May 3.
Harrison, who has served as Poet Laureate for Drury University since 1983 and was appointed by former Gov. Mike Parson as Missouri’s Poet Laureate from 2023 to 2025, will read five poems he wrote to celebrate the dedications, concert, parade and Telegraph Ball that are part of the centennial kickoff celebration.
The events are as follows:
• Dedication of Birthplace Plaza (corner of Jefferson Avenue and St. Louis Street/Park Central West): 4 p.m., Thursday, April 30 (exactly 100 years from the time and date the telegram was sent from the Colonial Hotel to Washington, D.C. naming Route 66). Harrison will read his poem “Where a Highway Was Born.”
• Kickoff Concert: (Great Southern Bank Arena): 5:15 p.m., Thursday, April 30. Harrison’s reading of his poem “Showtime,” will be presented via video before the concert begins.
• Dedication of Queen’s Gate sculpture (St. Louis Street just west of Glenstone Avenue, near the Best Western Route 66 Rail Haven Motel): 11 a.m., Friday, May 1. Harrison will read his poem “Homecoming.”
• National Celebrate America on Route 66 Parade (St. Louis Street just west of Glenstone Avenue, near the Best Western Route 66 Rail Haven Motel): 6 p.m., Friday, May 1. Harrison will read his poem “Traveling the Memory.”
• Telegraph Ball: (Shrine Mosque): 6 p.m., Saturday, May 2. Harrison will read his poem “66 is Catchier.”
“In a writing course that I took at Drury during my senior year, Professor Clark Graham liked my work and urged me to consider becoming a writer. I’m leaving out the years of struggle that followed before my first book was published 10 years later, a picture book that set my compass as a children’s writer. So far, I’ve published 23 books of poetry, 44 books of fiction, 24 books of nonfiction, and 19 books for classroom teachers,” Harrison said.
In addition to writing books and poetry, Harrison’s varied career has included pharmacologist, Editorial Manager for Hallmark Cards, and owner of Glenstone Block Company from 1973 to 2008. He has won numerous awards for his writing. His poems have been sandblasted into a sidewalk in Phoenix, Arizona and painted on a bookmobile in Pueblo, Colorado. Earlier this year, Harrison donated more than 50 boxes of his work to Missouri State University’s Meyer Library. The collection is available to the public and is housed within the library’s Special Collections and Archives on the third floor.
“Route 66 carried messages across our nation: stories of hope, resilience and reinvention,” said Mayor Jeff Schrag. “David L. Harrison’s canon of work honors that legacy of communication and connection – how stories traveled long before social media, and how they still travel today. I am honored that David has agreed to serve as the Poet Laureate for this once-in-a-lifetime event for Springfield, Missouri – the National Route 66 Centennial Kickoff Celebration.”
