The late Larry Berk, Dean of Library and Information Services at Suny Ulster, was a brilliant man. During his tenure at the college, he created world class arts programs that enriched the community and enchanted me.

Working with Jean Rose, executive assistant to the President, he created an Artist-in-Residence program for the college that brought established Hudson Valley artists to the campus for a semester to engage the college and community in various ways. I was the sixth artist in the series, in Fall 2001. I had a full year from the time Larry approached me to develop my residency, and that allowed me to create a faceted program. I taught a 3- credit college course in lyric writing and staged a series of music events for students and community. It was a learning experience for me—you do learn what you know when you teach. I repeated the course three times, refreshing syllabus each time to keep it interesting for me.

Nashville has a tradition of intimate songwriter-in-the-round evenings that I always loved. A small cohort takes turns singing and playing their songs, talking about them. I put on a series with co-host Robbie Dupree, tapping friends and colleagues to appear. Those were weeknights for the community with Happy and Artie Traum, John Sebastian, Jonell Mosser and John Hall, Pal Shazar and Jules Shear. The finale for the residency was a Saturday night concert in the college’s Quimby Theater featuring my own songs in an all-star lineup.

The AIR program continues today at SUNY Ulster, though Larry died of ALS twenty years ago. It is now called the Larry Berk Artist-in-Residence.

Larry initiated two other arts programs for the college and community. Every Fall, the Library Writers Series brought a world-famous writer to Stone Ridge. In the Spring, a revered poet came to the campus. Often, there would be a small luncheon in the President’s office, an afternoon appearance for the students and an evening Reading for the public. Frequently, I did a phone interview with the poet/writer and published a preview in The Woodstock Times to publicize the evening event. This gave me delightful access to many artists. When Larry’s illness prevented his driving anymore, I became chauffeur to the visitors. It was so much fun and truly a learning experience. Carolyn Forche, Jane Hirshfield, Michael McClure, Jaimy Gordon, Tess Gallagher, Michael Dickman, Billy Collins and Naomi Shihab Nye made lasting impressions. Many of those interviews can be found here on the Journalism page. I also wrote about Larry Berk, Jean Rose, and Ellen Robbins—the pillars of my residency—here.