Thursday evening, February 26, 2026, The Black Box Theatre, Columbia High School, Maplewood. I was introducing myself to the audience for my talk on William Carlos Williams, the first in a series called In, Around, About…Essex County 2026, presented by the South Orange-Maplewood Adult School (founded in 1933).
I asked everyone to say a little about themselves, and why they had chosen to attend. When it was Barbara Moore Buettner‘s turn, many people in the room seemed to know her, excitedly anticipating her response: that she was one of the more than three thousand babies WCW, the doctor-poet, delivered during his half-century career as a general practitioner and obstetrician in Rutherford, New Jersey, where he was born, lived and died (1993-1963).
I was stunned — to say the least, having begun my scholarly and literary journey more than fifty years ago, compiling a catalogue of Williams’s manuscripts and letters in the poetry collection at SUNY/Buffalo, partnering with my friend and fellow graduate student, Steve Meyers, in fulfillment of our PhD’s in Modern American Poetry. I went on to write the biography of Williams, To All Gentleness; and teach his works in elementary, high school and college classes for as long as I could remember.
Barbara recalled her mother, Lillian, telling her long ago that when “mom was in Dr. Williams’ waiting room on the first floor of 9 Ridge Road, she could hear him typing beyond the closed door of his consulting office.” And, characteristically, when Williams emerged to welcome Lillian for her appointment, the first thing he asked her was, “Mrs. Moore, have you taken your walk today?” To which she replied that she hadn’t.
Williams said, “Wait just a moment while I get my coat,” and then, the two of them strolled around the little town of Rutherford for awhile.