John Prine: Posthumous Illinois poet laureate
Pritzker forms search committee to determine next state poet laureate
John Prine performs in 2016 at Yellowstone National Park. (Yellowstone National Park/Matt Ludin)
By Ted Cox
In forming a search committee Tuesday to determine the state’s next poet laureate, Gov. Pritzker bestowed the honor posthumously on perhaps the greatest Illinois songwriter: John Prine.
Prine was without question the greatest talent to emerge from the Chicago folk revival of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. “Discovered” by Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert in a performance at the Old Town folk club the Fifth Peg in 1970, Prine released his eponymous debut album the following year, including the instant classics “Sam Stone,” “Hello in There,” “Illegal Smile,” and “Angel From Montgomery.”
Known as the “Maywood Mailman,” Prine was a Maywood native who actually delivered mail in nearby suburban Westchester. But he acknowledged early on that walking the route fueled his songwriting.
And that talent never left him.
Prine had a seemingly effortless songwriting gift, a knack for offhand, oftentimes comical, sometimes deceptively poignant lyrics wedded to just the right recycled or slightly reworked folk melody, typically delivered with a limited but expressive range and a deadpan lack of pretension. Although he transplanted to Nashville, Tenn., in the early ‘80s, where he formed his own record label, Oh Boy, later to develop other talents like Todd Snider, Prine remained throughout his career a uniquely Illinois product. After all, he learned to play guitar, at least in part, at the Old Town School of Folk Music.
A 1998 bout with cancer in his throat gave his voice an extra raspy quality, but he used it to become an even more skilled interpreter, never better than on his two albums of duets on old country songs, “In Spite of Ourselves” and “For Better, or Worse,” including performances with Iris DeMent, Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Amanda Shires, and Miranda Lambert.
His last album, “The Tree of Forgiveness,” was released two years ago and proved his most successful on the charts as he was recognized as an elder statesman, reaching No. 5 on the Billboard 200. Well aware of his own mortality, Prine ended the album with the whimsical “When I Get to Heaven,” in which he looks forward to smoking “a cigarette that’s nine miles long.”
He died in April at 73 of complications from COVID-19. His last recorded song, “I Remember Everything,” was released earlier this month and became his first chart-topper, debuting at No. 1 on Billboard’s Rock Digital Songs Sales chart.
Only Willie Dixon, a Mississippi native who became one of the titans of Chicago blues, can rival Prine for the vast catalog of top-flight songs he wrote and recorded as an Illinoisan. So let’s agree to split the difference and call Prine the greatest Illinois songwriter and Dixon the greatest Chicago songwriter.
On Tuesday, Pritzker proclaimed Prine an honorary poet laureate of the state. He joined select company. According to the Governor’s Office, “The first Illinois poet laureate, Howard B. Austin, was named in 1936. Only three other poets have held the title: Carl Sandburg (1962-67), Gwendolyn Brooks (1968-2000), and Kevin Stein (2003-2017).”
“I have no doubt that John would be proud and delighted to receive this recognition from his home state of Illinois,” said Prine’s widow, Fiona Whelan Prine. “Although he had moved to Nashville in the early 1980s, he continued to visit Chicago, and Maywood in particular, to spend time with his family. John continued to follow Chicago sports teams and had never found a hot dog, pizza, or Italian beef sandwich to rival the originals. Watching John, as I did many times, play to an Illinois audience was always thrilling. A home boy delighting in the love and approval of his loyal fans — some of them family, longtime friends, old-school buddies, and neighbors.”
Upon Prine’s death, Rich Miller of Capitol Fax backed a suggestion that “Prine’s name should be carved into the State Library building with all the other Illinois literary greats,” adding, “We’ll get to that after this crisis ends.”
“Illinois has been home to many talented poets like Carl Sandburg, Sandra Cisneros, and Gwendolyn Brooks who all used their words to inspire readers across the world,” Pritzker said. “I look forward to hearing from the next generation of great writers and announcing the next Illinois poet laureate in the coming months.”
First Lady M.K. Pritzker will serve as honorary chairwoman of the 2020 Poet Laureate Search Committee, but also as final judge in the selection process. Honorary vice-chairwoman is Shirley Madigan, chairwoman of the Illinois Arts Council. The 13-member selection committee will be led by Nora Brooks Blakely, president of Brooks Permissions and daughter of Pulitzer Prize-winner Gwendolyn Brooks. It includes some expected members, such as Susan Dickson, program director at the Illinois Arts Council Agency, and Greg McCormick, executive director of the Illinois State Library. But it also includes younger talent like Kevin Coval, a slam poet who went to become artistic director at Young Chicago Authors and co-ounder of the Louder Than a Bomb youth poetry festival, and Kara Jackson, 2019 national youth poet laureate and 2018 youth poet laureate of Chicago.
According to the Governor’s Office, nominations will be accepted Wednesday through August 15 via email or mail. Nominees must be current Illinois residents, have a publication history of poems and/or books, and an established history of activity in the state’s literary community. Nominations may be emailed to [email protected] or mailed to:
Illinois Poet Laureate Search Committee
c/o Office of the Governor
207 State House
Springfield, IL 62706