by Pamela Rosenblatt

The arts editor of The Somerville News received a Certificate of Appreciation for his community access television program at the organization’s annual meeting Jan.25.

‚ÄúI think Doug Holder really provides an excellent service to the larger writer community in Somerville.  And it‚Äôs not just ‚ÄòPoet To Poet/Writer To Writer‚Äô that he does.  Besides ‚ÄòPoet To Poet/Writer To Writer‚Äô, he also writes his column in The Somerville News, and produces The Somerville News‚Äô Writer‚Äôs Festival.  He‚Äôs really a dynamo in support of Somerville‚Äôs writers and readers,‚Äù said Wendy Blom, executive director of Somerville Community Access Television.

As a major local poet, writer, journalist, and inter-viewer, Douglas Holder is highly regarded in the Somerville and surrounding areas, said Wendy Blom.

She met Holder the first week she started at SCAT in 2005, she said. “And I was immediately impressed by the commitment to the show that he does and the ease with which he draws out his guests,” she said.

Holder said he developed such an admirable reputation in the writing community through years of study and dedication to his craft. 

He said his story begins when his mother’s family first came to the United States at the turn of the 20th Century.

‚ÄúA lot of my relatives got in the book business by selling books, selling books on pushcarts in the lower East Side of New York.  And then later, my uncle David Kirchenbaum started out that way.  Then, he opened up a whole series of book stores in New York on Book Row, the most famous one was Carnegie Book Store.  And so we were always surrounded with books, appreciation of writing, and the world of books.  So there was always a strong emphasis on reading and the arts in our family.  So it was a natural progression.  I was always writing,‚Äùhe said.

Holder‚Äôs ‚ÄúPoet To Poet/Writer To Writer‚Äù cable TV show grew out of a life-long interest in radio talk shows, he said. 

‚ÄúWhen I was a kid growing up in New York, there was a guy named Brad Crandall and Long John Nebel on late night radio.  Talk show hosts who were also on TV.  There was Susskind.  David Susskind.  And Alan Berk.  They always interviewed these interesting, off-key characters.  You know, try to get into what made them tick.  And so, since I was interested in writing and poetry, I wanted to interview writers and poets in the area.  So it‚Äôs always been a dream of mine,‚Äù said Holder.

Holder first realized this dream in college, he said. 

‚ÄúIn college undergraduate days, I had a radio talk show for a brief time on my college station, interviewing visiting writers.  And I always wanted to do it, so I figured when I moved to Somerville.  I heard of Somerville Community Access TV, and they said it was very easy to have your own show.  Because I‚Äôm not very good technically, I went to a training session and started the show.  And it was pretty easy to get guests.‚Äù

His first poem was published in Sub-Terrain, a Canadian magazine, at the age of 36, he said. He was in his early 40‚Äôs when he began Ibbetson Street Press, he said. 

‚ÄúBefore I started the Press, I was just publishing as a simple poet.  But when I started the Ibbetson Street Press in 1998, then a lot of things happened.  I met a lot of different people.‚Äù

Today, Holder volunteers his poetic and written knowledge at many venues, he said.  Besides donating his time at ‚ÄúPoet To Poet/ Writer To Writer‚Äù and the Bagel Bards, Holder organizes The Newton Free Library Poetry Series, is the Boston editor for Poesy,is the publicity consultant for The New Renaissance, said Holder.

Holder also works as a counselor at McLean Hospital, where he used to coordinate poetry groups.  ‚ÄúI don‚Äôt know if it was volunteer, but it was part of my job.  I developed at McLean.  And I always volunteer.  Everything I do is volunteer.  Now, more often, I get paid.  Everything, I guess, is volunteer.  I do the magazine, working for Spare Change, and writing.‚Äù 

He also works for Harris Gardner who runs the poetry series ‚ÄúTapestry of Voices,‚Äù he said. Holder said Gardner assisted his poetry career in a positive way.   ‚ÄúHarris Gardner taught me a lot about the poetry world, organizing and the business aspects of it, plus his poetry feedback.‚Äù 

Gardner said he and Holder became fast friends upon first meeting in the late 1990s
at ‚Äúan add-on indoor small press event loosely connected to the Jack Kerouac Festival in Lowell.‚Äù 

Gardner was interviewed on Holder‚Äôs ‚ÄúPoet To Poet/ Writer To Writer,‚Äù said Gardner.  The show was produced in a relaxed and comfortable environment, he said. ‚ÄúHolder‚Äôs a witty, sparkling, yet mellow interviewer and a remarkable personality. He‚Äôs very on top of things. He‚Äôs knowledgeable and appropriately sophisticated,‚Äù he said.

“Holder is the Impresario of Greater Somerville and environs up to and including Newton,” said Harris.

Holder said other people who have also guided him along the path to success include Ruth Wisse, a prominent Yiddish literature professor at Harvard University, Robert K. Johnson, who selected Holder to direct The Newton Free Library Poetry Series, and Ed Galing, an 89-year-old Jewish poet, a prolific writer, who writes about the Old World and the Lower East Side.

Holder’s poetic style is free verse with elements of rhyme, he said.

‚ÄúA lot of my poetry has a strong sense of place.  A lot of it takes place in the Somerville/Boston area and New York.  Also, I have a lot of sense of wrestling with issues like death and sex and also a lot of character studies.‚Äù

Along with his wife, Dianne Robitaille and friend Richard Wilhelm, Holder founded the Ibbetson Street Press, he said. In December 2007, Holder plans to travel to Israel to judge the Ruben Rose award poetry competition for the Voices of Israel, he said. 

Holder said he volunteers his services all around the Somerville because it‚Äôs a labor of love.  He greatly enjoys volunteering as the producer of ‚ÄúPoet To Poet/Writer To Writer,‚Äù he said.