Please join the Walt Whitman Initiative and many special guests for a poetical, visual, and musical tribute to Greg Trupiano: sought-after Whitman specialist and director of the much-beloved Walt Whitman Project, tour guide extraordinaire, Whitman Initiative founding member and our dear friend. Greg’s local cultural activism had a reach far beyond his beloved Brooklyn; today, we celebrate some of the ways Greg exemplified the philosophy of thinking globally and acting locally.
Greg Trupiano reading at the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club group reading of Walt Whitman’s The Centenarian’s Story (a story of the Battle of Brooklyn at the site of the battle on the August anniversary of the battle), 2018
Lon Black and Greg were life partners for over 38 years before his passing a year ago. Lon was Associate Artistic Director of The Walt Whitman Project which was Greg’s brainchild. Lon, who has a theatre background, was a reader at many of the events produced by The WWP. He also designed the marketing materials and programs for these events. For the last 16 years he has worked in the animal wellness field as a massage therapist, acupressurist and Reiki Master for cats and dogs. His internet presence is focused on bodywork for senior cats. He goes by the name The Cat Masseur.
Di Cui is a storyteller who uses writing, photography, and videography to tell stories about social justice. Her documentary film “Song of Ourselves: Cultural Activism in Whitman’s New York” premiered at the International Whitman Week in celebration of Walt Whitman’s bicentennial in 2019. She completed her Master’s degree in Historic Preservation at Pratt Institute, where she explored cultural heritage, public history, gentrification, and other urban issues. In her work with different communities in New York City and community-based organizations, she always brings a creative touch and empathy. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology and Art History from Macalester College.
Brad Vogel is the author of the poetry collection Broad Meadow Bird. A finalist for the 2020 Erskine J. Poetry Prize, his poetry has appeared in Smartish Pace, The Freshwater Review, Solitary Plover, Deadline Gowanus, and elsewhere. He founded the Brooklyn Book Festival’s annual Gowanus Dawn Reading (in canoes), the NYC Poets Afloat residency and reading series (aboard ships), and co-created Whitman After Dark (an afterdark group read ramble).
Charles Jarden was General Director of the Brooklyn-based American Opera Project, 2002 to 2019 and Board member of the Fort Greene Park Conservancy 2003 to present (board chair 2006-2020). He produces music concerts, opera productions, poetry events and tours throughout Brooklyn and the outer boroughs, many combining local history and site specific themes.
Julian Macrone is an advocate for communities and student of cities, currently completing a Masters degree at the Yale School of the Environment. His professional and academic work centers around how we can build more resilient, just urban environments—perennially inspired by the ideals of Brooklyn Boosters like Whitman, and of course, Greg Trupiano. Before Yale, Julian was Associate Director of the Fort Greene Park Conservancy.
Karin Coonrod is a theater director and writer whose work has been seen and heard across the U.S. and around the world. Recently she directed More Or Less I Am (drawn from Whitman’s “Song of Myself”) virtually and on tour around NYC; The Merchant of Venice on tour in the USA and the Jewish Ghetto in Venice, Italy; Babette’s Feast in Portland , Maine and off-Broadway; her own texts&beheadings/ElizabethR at the Folger Theater in Washington DC and at BAM/Next Wave Fest. Founding Director of Compagnia de’ Colombari (2004-now), Coonrod is on the faculty of the Yale School of Drama. Greg Trupiano was an Advisory Board member of Colombari and a close friend to the company.
Nicole Joy Mitchell, is an Opera Singer (contralto) and a proud native of Brooklyn, New York and has performed around the country and abroad. Nicole made her Metropolitan Opera debut, during their 2019/2020 season, as part of the ensemble in the highly acclaimed James Robinson production of the Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess. She has performed with American Opera Projects (now The American Opera Project) singing the works of new composers. For several years Nicole has been the featured soloist on Fort Greene Park Conservancy tours celebrating the history of Brooklyn, and Walt Whitman through song. Last year Nicole debuted with Santa Fe Opera in the role of Fannie Lou Hamer in Is This America?, adapted from This Little Light of Mine, the story of Fannie Lou Hamer by Diana Solomon-Glover (libretto) and Chandler Carter (music).
Karen Karbiener is a Whitman scholar and teaches at New York University. Winner of the Kluge Fellowship at the Library of Congress and a Fulbright recipient, she has published widely on Whitman, including an edition of Leaves of Grass, two audiobooks on Whitman’s life and influence, a book introducing Whitman’s poetry to children, and a collaboration with Brian Selznick on a new edition of Whitman’s “Live Oak, with Moss” poems. Karbiener is the president and a founding member of the Walt Whitman Initiative, a 501c3 nonprofit organization serving as an organizing center for cultural activism and poetry-related events. Greg Trupiano’s cultural activism was a shaping force on the founding of WWI and on Karen’s public scholarship.