I was one of Gwendolyn's students and a lifelong follower of her work. I remember reading some of my own attempts at poetry to our group and I still remember her words to me, "Antonio, we sing poetry. Yours sounds like the sports page of the Tribune." Well, I appreciated her criticism. It would have been easier for her to just write me off and say nothing or a perfunctory "nice." But she woke me and my next attempts started to progressively loosen until I was singing my poems. And she smiled at me and I was thrilled. She listened to my every word and to every student's every word. She didn't...