‘Idaho Needs Poets More Than Judges’

Originally, Byron Johnson’s Poetic Justice was going to be just a private memoir, intended to consumption for family and friends. (We still have a spiral-bound copy of that version, not drastically different in content from the new one.) A good thing for the state that he decided otherwise, and the title of this post – taken from the title of one of the poems strewn through this book – suggests why. P oetic Justice doesn’t read like the brief of a former Supreme Court just, probably because Johnson was an unusual justice, and an unusual Idahoan, and much of what he has to say the state should hear. The book was released last week, and its release event drew around 100 people including justices, politicians, activists and people of widely varied description. The variety suggests a writer who has lived several different lives, and Johnson has/ Randy Stapilus , Ridenbaugh Press. More here.

Question: Question: Do you agree that Idaho needs poets more than judges?