Vachel Lindsay: The Poet Speaks
a one-man show featuring Job Conger's first person revelation of The Prairie Troubadour's life in monologue, verse and song

Audiences listen when Vachel Lindsay: The Poet Speaks comes to your party, classroom, meeting or convention.

From a Letter written by a friend to a new friend in Elkhart, Indiana
   Fred Russillo is brother of my neighbor Mark. Both have witnessed my reciting of Vachel's poems. Both -- and Mark's "bud" T.C.   were my hosts during a birthday celebration September 13 in the lower level of Sebastian's Restaurant in downtown Springfield. There we encountered Laurel and Dave, visiting from Elkhart, Indiana. It was a quiet night. Fred told them of my interest in Vachel, and my desire to recite his poems everywhere I am welcomed in the world. After dinner, I joined Laurel and Dave at their table and recited several Vachel poems as I feel they should be communicated with the world, and reactions from the visitors as predicted. Fred urged the Indiana duo to find a way to bring me to their city, to share the story of Vachel and to recite his poems. Three days later, he wrote Laurel a letter. After he read it to me September 22 from his Maryland home, he agreed to my request to share part of it with you. Here it is:

It was a fortuitous if serendipitous meeting, and offered a rare opportunity for me to experience a dear friend's recital performance of a master (Lindsay) with an honored professional. Great art is meant to be shared, and it was a gift to live it once again through your eyes. I think the "Prairie Troubadour" in his work and life still offers a telling and often prescient take on the American dream, and prose-portraits that freshly speak to our beloved, changing land. His vision is to me as vivid a portrait of an evolving America as a Cole or Bierstadt landscape; his American heartland is as vital and alive as Twain's Mississippi or Steinbeck's California coast- slowly receding, but still suspended just beyond the mind's horizon. Sorry- I know I sound like the amateur I am; but we must all make the reach, non? If I may, I'd also like to seek your council and guidance as a distinguished professional with regard to my endeavors (which we discussed) to find a broader audience for Vachel's life and times through the performance talents of my friend, Job Conger. He is fully capable of offering a broad program on the history, folklore and culture of the period in the illustration of Lindsay's art. I hope you'll agree it is an enjoyable experience. He is a published and recognized figure on the local Springfield literary circuit, and would welcome the opportunity to expand his horizons. I do hope you can offer some kind advice and assistance. Once again, it was an honor and pleasure to meet you, and I trust we may speak again soon.          Best wishes to you and David  -     Fred  Russillo    

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Presented by Springfield, Illinois poet/songwriter Job Conger, this one man show, inspired by James Whitmore's "Give 'Em Hell, Harry" and Rick Dunham's "Elvis Himselvis," shares the story of Springfield Illinois' most famous native son if you forget about Robin Roberts. Vachel Lindsay (1879 - 1931) was a failed artist whose poems, and his way of reciting them to packed houses, put Springfield, Illinois on the literary map. Vachel Lindsay was heralded all over the world as a founder of the New Regionalism school of poetry that swept through the country like a prairie grass fire. Carl Sandburg and Edgar Lee Masters came to Springfield to visit Vachel. They walked our streets.
     Conger is a Springfield native son himself. He has created Vachel Lindsay: The Poet Speaks  to recall the life of this remarkable poet, to recite many of his most enjoyable poems. The poems include Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, The Kallyope Yell, A Curse for the Saxophone, Simon Legree, On the Building of Springfie.d, The Illinois Village, The Proud Farmer, The Congo, The Wizard in the Street, Springfield Magical, The Mouse that Gnawed the Oaktree Down, The Santa Fe Trail, and more. Since 1992, Conger has presented the story informally to school classes and civic organizations all over Illinois. He has seen how Lindsay's poems enrichen the lives of poets and non-poets as they learn about the man and understand, as never before the poems he created in great profusion. The result is that aspiring writers and people who never considered writing a poem, are inspired by the life and poetry of Springfield, Illinois' most under appreciated "diamond in the dust."
      Vachel Lindsay, The Poet Speaks  is a tour de force rhythm, rhyme, occasional music with acoustic guitar accompaniment, and a whole lot of fun. See for yourself by booking this unique presentation for your next special event. For more information, a brochure or contract
        email writer@eosinc.com 
           call 217-544-6122
               or
                 write to
                               Job Conger
                         428 W. Vine St.
                         Springfield, IL 62705-2933.

The following poems by Vachel Lindsay are part of my repertoire of Lindsay poems I recite when invited to share my poetry and that of my favorite poet. If your favorite Lindsay poem is not in this list, and you wish it were, let me know.

 FLASH -- ALL COPIES OF MY BOOK
VACHEL LINDSAY: STRANGE GOLD are SOLD OUT There may be a copy or two for sale at Prairie Archives in lyrical downtown Springfield or at Books on the Square in Virden. To read a review of the first edition of this book click here
   I am working on a second edition of the book. It will have more pictures, there will be more favorite poems, most of the old typos will be corrected and I'll add a few new ones, and I am AIMING to produce it on a CD which allows purchases to call up a chapter at a time, a poem at a time and which allows the purchaser to listen to Job Conger read the book and recite the poems while driving to Tuscon or Rochester. Stay tune for additional news and details.

ALL THE PICTURES below have been thumbnailed for faster loading here. Click on any for a larger version and "Back" to return to the page. Unless stated otherwise, all pictures on this page are by Job Conger.

"Vachel Lindsay: The Illinois Village
and Other Nourishments for the Mind"
preented to Rochester, Illinois Public Library, April 25, 2006
"Job,
       I thoroughly enjoyed your Performance.......and am more enamored with Vachel Lindsay's Poetry, now.........because of the life you brought to his words - and that's the most important thing, as you said........it's the way it's presented.
      You presented it superbly.  Thank you."
      -- Vern Taylor
Rochester's library is located on the east side of town. Bright, warm and convivial inside, the feeling of welcome exuded by the staff on my arrival told me we were going to have some fun. . . . . and we did!   Director Nancy Kruse had set up a display of books that included my own Minstrel's Ramble, Bear' sKin, and Vachel Lindsay, Strange Gold along with five other books by or about Vachel Lindsay.

I am holding "the handle of a broom" during my recital of Vachel's The Congo. "Boomlay, boomlay, boomlay, BOOM!"

Nice view of the crowd. I didn't see an empty seat in the entire room. Everyone paid attention during the hour and five minutes I spoke, they smiled in all the "right places" and were generous with their approbation.

October 2, 2005 Presentation to the Mary Austin Society, Carlinville, Illinois
The entire, unexpurgated story follows these pictures. The pictures are thumbnailed for faster loading. Click on any for a larger view and BACK to return to this page.

A Productive Confluence with the Mary Austin Society!
    The day the State Journal-Register published the news of my pending presentation in the Vachel Lindsay Home State Historic Site's  Poetry in the Parlor series, I received a call from John Alexander, owner of Books on the Square in scenic downtown Virden, Illinois. He explained that the early 20th century women's rights advocate and student of Native American culture had been born in Carlinville, Illinois and had attended Carlinville's Blackburn College with Vachel's mother. Would I come to a meeting of the Mary Austin Society and share what I knew of this connection? Absolutely . . . IF . . . I could find a ride to that fair town. John said that was no problem; he'd be happy to drive to Springfield, deliver me to the meeting and return me home. WOW! So plans were made for an October 2 presentation.
    In the meantime, I met Corlyss Disbrow during a visit to the Vachel Lindsay Home State Historic Site and she kindly agreed to attend the meeting of the Society, and I could ride with her. So it went.
   The program handout I prepared included a transcription of a letter Vachel Lindsay sent to Mary Austin in 1926, when he was living in Spokane. It also included notes about the poems I intended to share: The Flute of the Lonely,  The Santa Fe Trail, Our Mother Pocahontas, The Ghosts of the Buffaloes, The Congo, The Broncho That Would Not be Broken, On The Building of Springfield, The Proud Farmer, The Illinois Village, and my poem/song Vachel was a Preacher.
    John revealed in his introduction to the members that he had heard me play and sing in 1967 at Springfield's Somethin' Else Coffeehouse at Fourth at Capitol! So this was a chance to catch up with what I'd been playing for the past 38 years! The group was a poet's dream: attentive, laughing in the right places and surprising me with their reactions to nuances of phrase and rhyme. My presentation lasted longer than I had planned, due to my un-timed explanatory rambling between poems. The whole presentation was from memory. I even put my glasses away. It was probably the best presentation I have given to an assembled multitude.  
     After the programmed verse, I  had the pleasure of selling a record number of my books thanj I have ever sold at one appearance in my home town. Lesson learned If you want to sell your poems and your books, get the hell out of Springfield! Seriously though I was delighted with the aftternoon's activities, and there will always be a soft spot in my head -- make that HEART -- for fine people of Carlinville and Virden.
    THANKS to John Alexander, the Mary Austin Society and Corlyss Disbrow for one fine time!

Pictures from my June 22, 2005 taping of
Meet Your Neighbor with Maybelle Hall
 The program was broadcast at 3:30 pm, Saturday, July 9 on Springfield's  UIS cable public access channel 4.
  Pictures have been thumbnailed for faster loading. Click on any for a larger veresion and "Back" to return to the page. Sincerest THANKS to camera operator/UIS student Melissa Mason for taking these pictures with my still camera.

I have taped about eight shows at the access channel, and this was the only program I've been privileged to appear on where the option of stopping for a second take (a second opportunity to recite the poem or play the song) was not offered. As the program taping continued, I felt like the pilot who knows that there will be no go arounds on this final approach. One way or the other this flight will terminate in 20 minutes, 10 minutes, 1 minute, 40 seconds, and my condition when I come to a stop at the end of that runway is entirely up to me.
          As I departed the studio, I decided I will never appear on a locally originating TV show when a no-second-take production is rolling. Had I anticipated how discombobulated I'd be, I would have discussed the option before we started the show. Even so, I think (which is to say I PRAY) that my impression of my performance will be somewhat redeemed by a more generouls public reaction when they  see it on TV. As I mentioned earlier, the program Meet Your Neighbor with yours truly will be broadcast Saturday, July 9, starting at 3:30 pm on Cable Access Channel 4. 

 THANKS TO ELIZABETH CROWLEY and The Academy of Lifelong Learning's Book Lovers Group for their warm welcome January 26, 2005   when I shared the story and poetry of Vachel Lindsay. Elizabeth began the meeting by asking the members of the group to share their experiences with Vachel or the poet's family and poetry. Several had interesting things to say, including a woman who saw/heard him recite at First Christian Church. She related how Vachel had  given here some unexpected attention and put her ont he spot asking her to tell him what beauty is/was.  The "brush with Vachel" is important because she was one of many Springfield citizens who were moved by the presence of Vachel in this city, and she never forgot it. Many fondly remembered Springfield High School English teacher Elizabeth Graham. I passed out mimentoes from my  presentation for the Sangamon County Historical Society last April (I had a LOT of these full-color handouts left over, and I will share them with future audiences until I run out.)  It was amazing how people who don't know me are more appreciative of what I say about Vachel and my way of sharing his poetry. They smiled and laughed in all the right places and showed greater understanding of the words than I've witnessed in earlier readings.  At any rate, the meeting. which by rights and natural assuming would have concluded by about 2,   continued until about 2:45. People enjoyed the poetry and the question and answer session which followed. God knows, I had a fine time too! Thanks to Jean for arranging my visit, and to all who gave validation to what I said by their kindness and attention!


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