ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Lynn poet Don Estabrook with his Poetryfest Poetry Hall of Fame award.
BY MICHELE DURGIN
In 1994, Don Estabrook spotted an ad in The Daily Evening Item asking people to submit original poems to be published.
“I thought it would be fun to write a poem and send it in,” he said. “I wrote a Thanksgiving poem titled “People Helping People” and that was the beginning of it for me as a poet.”
It was the start of a poetry career that would see him go on to write hundreds of poems. He won a Poet of the Year Award in 2015 from the Poetryfest in Oregon, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame one year later.
“I enjoy writing poems because I like to make people happy,” he said. “A few weeks ago, I wrote a poem in honor of Joyce, a well-known waitress at the Capitol Diner in Lynn. She was retiring and I wanted to write a poem about her.”
Estabrook, 65, recently retired from his work as a security guard.
“I started out working in a shoe factory in Lynn when I was younger and worked a lot during my lifetime,” he said. “Now that I am retired, I will have more time to write poems.”
John Quigley, Estabrook’s neighbor and friend, said he is a terrific man who cares about others.
“He has paid rent for homeless people and has a big heart,” he said. “His writing must come from his heart.”
Estabrook said he is inspired by poet Helen Steiner Rice, an American writer of religious and inspirational poetry from Ohio who died in 1981. He refers to her as his all-time favorite and how they have similar styles.
His poems have been published in several poetry collections including “Flights of Angels” and “Great Modern Poets.”
“I make no money for this,” he said. “I enjoy writing and making people happy. Poetry is beautiful music to me.”
