Robert Pinsky on the PBS News Hour

A July 4, 2001 appearance by poet Robert Pinsky (who presents a free reading today 7/5 in Saratoga) on the PBS NewsHour was reshared yesterday on that program's website.

Pinsky read some astonishing lines from a poem by Walt Whitman ("By Blue Ontario's Shore") that emphasize the importance of self-criticism in any true expression of patriotism-- of recognizing our country's failings so that we may work to improve and perfect it.

Also featured is Pinsky's July 4, 2002 reading of poet John Hollander's poem about fireworks, "Sparklers."

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2013/07/from-the-newshour-archives-robert-pinsky-on-the-4th-of-july.html

For a full schedule of free readings at the New York State Summer Writers Institute in Skidmore:
http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/archives/sumread.html