Wilbur was a words-smith extraordinaire, and I have a special fondness for his writing. At a time when lesser poets were beating the drum for free-form modernism, he was quietly perfecting the formal approach with its intricate rhymes and traditional structures. All this served up with wit and elegance.
“I was born a writer. I wrote in prison camp, and after the war I worked at a newspaper in Singapore. I’ve always written. I’ve never stopped writing.”
-- Loet Velmans
Sheffield resident Loet Velmans, survivor of a daring escape from Holland in a lifeboat, aptly named The Seaman’s Hope on May 14, 1940, compared his own plight to that of today’s boat people in the Mediterranean and elsewhere, risking their lives for a chance at freedom.
When asked how he achieved professional success, he credits luck and being at the right place at the right time. Yet, as he tells his story, it becomes clear that Velmans had other traits – courage, resourcefulness, determination, a willingness to take risks, an instinct for what might work, and a capacity for friendship and collaboration.
