Start: October 6, 2026 1:30 p.m.
End: October 6, 2026 3 p.m.
Location: Alumni Center
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Contact Details
Jim Lee

Poetry and the Legacy of Mildred Trivers, the "Poet of Twin Ponds Lane”

Description:   Jeff Pearson, Mike Brockley, and George Wolfe are poets contributing and doing their best to follow Mildred’s legacy by continuing the poetry writing group she started in the early 1980s. They will spend the first half of the program speaking about the group’s origins, and recapping the annual October “Humpback Barn Festival” held on Mildred’s property northwest of Muncie. They will feature some poetry written by current group members and highlight what is being done to bring poetry to the greater Muncie community. Toward the end of their 45-minute presentation people in the audience will be invited to share memories of Mildred, her husband Howard and their children.

Presenter Bio: George W. Wolfe is Professor Emeritus and former Director of the Ball State University Center for Peace and Conflict Studies. He is an award-winning poet whose pieces have been published in The Polk Street Review, Spitball Magazine, the Last Stanza Poetry Journal, and on prominent websites including Voices of Humanity, Sojourner, and Progressive Christianity. His latest collection of poetry, published in memory of Mildred Trivers, is entitled Clapping with One Hand: Poems inspired by Zen, Mozart and my Experience of India. In 2004, conservative author Daid Horowitz named George as “One of the 101 most dangerous academics in America,” along with Angela Davis, Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky.

Michael Brockley is a retired school psychologist who lives in Muncie, Indiana. Over 400 of his prose poems have appeared in more than 100 publications and venues in the United States and abroad. At the end of this summer, Main Street Rag Publishing will release Iron Pennies, Brockley’s first full collection of prose poems. Iron Pennies is available for pre-release order from Main Street Rag’s book store.

Jeffrey Owen Pearson is Emeritus president of Midwest Writers Workshop and former chair for the Humpback Barn Festival of Poets and Artists. His poems have appeared in The Best of Flying Island, So It Goes, Reckless Writing Anthology, Tipton Poetry Journal, Flying Island, and Maize. Pudding House Publications published his chapbook Hawaii Slides. He appeared on Jenny Kander’s Lenen and Weave radio program on his first foray to Bloomington. He lives in Muncie, Indiana.


The Association of Lifelong Learners (ALL) is a group of retirees and community members interested in continuing to learn and engage with each other on a variety of educational topics. If you're not already a member, feel free to attend a meeting or two to see what we're about before making the commitment. Find out how to join by visiting us at www.bsu.edu/lifelonglearners