Visiting Celebs

With the production company gone, the week settled back into as much of a routine as possible. No matter where I went I just could not find anything interesting. Enter Court TV. Yes, Court TV! A small company consisting of a camera man, an audio guy, a light guy and an assistant were in town to film a segment about a murder. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you view it, their original location for the shoot fell through. The couple they were interviewing for the segment are residents of North Augusta therefore the TV crew had secured a location for the shoot here in town but since that one fell through they found Rosemary Hall and the show, as they say, went on.
I listened from across the foyer as they interviewed the young lady whose sister was apparently the victim or one of the victims and I heard names but not clear enough to be sure enough to print them. I asked to interview one of the crew but they declined; some legal thing is what I was told. However it was quite interesting watching them set up the lights, adjust the sound, and roll the camera on the dolly in and out depending on the shot they wanted. I hung around for a while but could gather no more useful information about the victims or the crime. Guess we will have to wait until it airs.
And it just keeps getting better. Mossy Creek Elementary hosted a children’s poet this past week. Brod Bagert, former trial attorney, former two term city councilman for New Orleans, published his first book in 1985. In 1992 he gave up the law to begin writing full time. Mr. Bagert has, to his credits, eight published books of poetry for children with the ninth, School Fever, coming out this July and five published books of poetry for adults. This all began in 1980 when he began writing poems for his children to perform. He continued writing throughout his legal career then decided he loved writing more than the constant struggle with the judicial system.
Mr. Bagert is married, has been for 37 years, 5 months and 16 days, at the time of this writing, to his high school sweetheart. He and his wife have four children ranging in age from twenty-one to thirty-five; two boys and two girls. All but one of his children resides in the New Orleans area; the youngest attends Johns Hopkins University. During hurricane Katrina the Bagerts lost their homes and had to relocate. As fate would have it they ended up within walking distance of each others house. They are a close knit family and usually can all be found at one house or the other or as he put it to me, when one cooks we all show up and yes, we talked about New Orleans food too.
Mr. Bagert’s writing style is unique. When he writes a poem it is not in his voice so-to-speak. He writes in the voice of the character. For younger children he writes in their voices always in rhythm but with subtle nuances. He thinks younger children always “get it” especially when there is a constant rhythm. For older children he also writes in rhythm, but a different type. These poems are sometimes dramatic but always capture the essence of how it is to be their age. With all ages he strives to teach reading and always in themes. His efforts won him an award for Outstanding Achievement from the Society of Educational Publishers. Also to his credit is a book about Edgar Allen Poe written for the U. S. Department of Education.
When I asked him why he wrote poetry he said, “Writing a poem is like kissing someone you love. You don’t want to show them what a good kisser you are, you want to touch their heart.”