By Hal Cannon and Taki Telonidis
Salt Lake City, UT – Even in his childhood, Leslie Norris was drawn to words. He once rode his bicycle across the Welsh countryside to hear a young Dylan Thomas read poetry in a room above a village bookstore. Norris grew to become a poetic treasure himself, and years later recited at the unveiling of Thomas' memorial at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. Norris eventually moved to this country, becoming a professor and poet-in-residence at Brigham Young University, where he died this past week at age 84. Author James Dickey wrote that most poets would kill for Norris' authenticity of voice.
Our portrait of Leslie Norris was produced by Hal Cannon and Taki Telonidis of the Western Folklife Center... with support from the R. Harold Burton Foundation and the George S. and Dolores Dor Eccles Foundation.