Ohio Valley poet honored through anthology
Haiku savant wrote on work and nature
RIGHT AT HOME — The late Timothy Russell, a poet from the tri-state area, is pictured among the foliage at his riverside Toronto property in 2005. -- Contributed
POETRY READING — Friends and family gathered at Leonardo’s Coffeehouse on Saturday to read the poems of and pay tribute to the late poet Timothy Russell, as well as celebrate the posthumous publication of Russell’s work in the anthology book “In Plena Vita — The Full Life: The Collected Poems of Timothy Russell.” From left, front, are Shane Russell, son; Earl Keener, friend; Violet Wender, daughter; Jodi Russell, wife; Nancy Koerbel, friend; Larry Smith, book publisher; Katrina Russell, granddaughter; and back, Frank Lehner, friend; Ivan Russell, son; Katie Russell, daughter-in-law; and Isaac Russell, grandson. -- Christopher Dacanay
RIGHT AT HOME — The late Timothy Russell, a poet from the tri-state area, is pictured among the foliage at his riverside Toronto property in 2005. -- Contributed
POETRY READING — Friends and family gathered at Leonardo’s Coffeehouse on Saturday to read the poems of and pay tribute to the late poet Timothy Russell, as well as celebrate the posthumous publication of Russell’s work in the anthology book “In Plena Vita — The Full Life: The Collected Poems of Timothy Russell.” From left, front, are Shane Russell, son; Earl Keener, friend; Violet Wender, daughter; Jodi Russell, wife; Nancy Koerbel, friend; Larry Smith, book publisher; Katrina Russell, granddaughter; and back, Frank Lehner, friend; Ivan Russell, son; Katie Russell, daughter-in-law; and Isaac Russell, grandson. -- Christopher Dacanay
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TORONTO -- Timothy "Tim" Russell's serene garden sits tucked along a hillside in Toronto, overlooking the Ohio River. In the middle of the small plot is a Stonehenge-like structure filled with sunflowers.
Tim Russell's wife, Josephine "Jodi" Russell, recalls the time her husband would spend "battling knotweed" along the riverside slope.
Most likely, Tim Russell wouldn't appreciate how the knotweed has finally claimed victory over the land since his passing. He might, however, appreciate a different part of his legacy that is being kept alive: His writing.
Russell, who died on Sept. 16, 2021, after a long struggle with debilitating illness, was a prolific, award-winning poet, boasting more than 1,000 haikus and six short books of poems.
Jodi Russell recalled Tim Russell's dementia diagnosis three years before he died, as well as concurrent discouragement he had faced about writing.
One episode saw Tim Russell throwing papers containing his work out of a filing cabinet, saying they should be discarded because no one will ever see them.
"I said, 'Stop, stop, I promise, I'll try to get your writing out into the world," Jodi Russell recalled. When she urged him to preserve his writing for the sake of their children, he recovered from the episode.
A month after Tim Russell's death, Jodi Russell was looking through his work to compile for publication. On a storage chest, she found a stack of already organized work Tim Russell must have prepared about a week before he died.
"I know he did want his writing out there," Jodi Russell said. "He put it out in case I did what I said I'd do."
Her promise became a reality in May when the anthology "In Plena Vita -- The Full Life: The Collected Poems of Timothy Russell" was published by the nonprofit literary organization Bottom Dog Press. The book, which contains selected haikus and poems from Russell's career as well as a biographical timeline and photos, was created through a close collaboration with Russell's family.
Ivan Russell, one of Tim Russell's four children and an assistant editor of the book, said of the book, "It validates the work he put into his craft. ... It's a whole opportunity to peer into the mind of your parent."
A tribute event at Leonardo's Coffeehouse on Saturday saw some of Tim Russell's friends and family -- representing three generations -- unite to hear his poetry read aloud, view photos of Russell taken throughout his life and watch video footage of an interview conducted with Russell in the 1980s.
Fellow poet and one of Russell's friends from graduate school, Frank Lehner, attended the event and read some of Russell's poems. He said of his friend, "From my eye, he's one of the best poets in America in the 20th century."
Another poet and friend, Nancy Koerbel, said Russell was gifted and, regarding his poems, "There's always something about them that's fresh."
Another two reading events for Russell's work are scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at the Schiappa Branch of the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County and 5 p.m. on Sept. 28 at the Mary H. Weir Public Library.
Jodi Russell described Tim Russell, who was born in Steubenville on May 25, 1951, as reclusive near the end due to his sickness. However, he was incredibly intelligent and a "class clown" type, prone to spur-of-the-moment antics. Most notably, he was a storyteller who could see the world through a different light.
"He makes you see the normal in an extraordinary way," Jodi Russell said.
Tim and Jodi Russell first met when they were both 18, Jodi Russell said. She was from New Jersey and was participating in a social work program in the area, and he would often pester her to get her attention. After leaving college and joining the Army, Timothy Russell hitchhiked to New Jersey to see her. The two "hippies at heart" got married the same year at a home service.
Tim Russell worked at Weirton Steel Corp., suffering through symptoms then diagnosed as the auto-immune disease lupus. He was known as "Mad Dog" at the mill due to his growling at orders, and his time in the mill heavily influenced the subjects of his poetry -- nature was another recurring subject.
In between the mill and raising his family, Russell went back to school, earning a bachelor's degree from West Liberty State College (now university) and a master of arts in English from the University of Pittsburgh.
Russell's friendships with other writers grew, as did his involvement in writing conferences and competitions.
Russell's 1987 chapbook "The Possibility of Turning to Salt" won him the Ohio Poetry Association's Golden Web Award, 1993's "Adversaria" won TriQuarterly Books' Terrence Des Pres Prize for poetry and an eight-word haiku submitted to the 4th Shiki International Haiku Award Shiki Team, Ehime Prefecture, won him a 10-day trip to Japan in 1999.
Tim Russell persevered as his health continued to decline, suffering from a handful of other complications. Although his writing slowed toward the end of his life, Russell kept busy maintaining his Toronto riverside domain. He constructed a Stonehenge-like structure made of large stones -- nicknamed "Tim Henge" by his wife -- to surround his garden.
A breakthrough in his writing lull came two days before he died, when he finished his final haiku: "Snoozles the little dog knows I'm toast."
A celebration of life at Toronto's Newburg Landing saw family spread part of Tim Russell's ashes in the Ohio River. Jodi Russell said it was after the celebration that Larry Smith of Bottom Dog Press seemingly read her mind, saying he would like to publish a book of Tim Russell's work.
Smith co-founded Bottom Dog Press which had published Russell's work once before in a book of working-class poets. After that, Smith had followed Russell's career, and wanted to share his work with the world when Russell died.
"I believe in his writing," said Smith, himself a working-class poet. "It parallels my own life."
Jodi Russell said of the book, "(Tim) didn't like attention, but he'd be glad it's out there. ... This is a wonderful book."
Tim Russell himself was like a haiku, with more depth and significance than word constraints can allow. A great talent taken too soon, Russell will live on in his immortalized writing and in the hearts of those who loved him.