New poetry book harkens back to man's childhood

HURON — John Kropf lives and works as an attorney in Washington, D.C., but many of the poems in his new book, "A Midwestern Heart," go back to growing up in Erie County. The book also draws from observations from his world travels and from his everyday life, the "little miracles" Kropf said he notices and wants to record. Bottom Dog Press, the small press located in Huron, recently published "A Midwestern Heart." Bottom Dog founder Larry Smith, whose small press has now put out 250 titles, said the book fits his publishing company's regional focus and said he has known for a while that Kropf is a fine writer. Kropf's previous books are: • "Color Capital of the World: Growing Up With the Legacy of a Crayon Company" — Kropf's relatives owned the American Crayon Co. in Sandusky • "Unknown Sands: Travels in the World's Most Isolated Country," about Turkmenistan — Smith said he read the crayon company book and noticed how poetic the prose was. Kropf, 62, grew up in Perkins Township and Huron and graduated from Huron High School in 1980. He said writing the crayon company book "forced me to really think about growing up in my childhood." In a phone interview, Kropf said he admires poets such as Billy Collins who are accessible and write about everyday observations. He also apparently likes wit, as many of Kropf's poems are funny. "Investing Wisely," plays off all of the investment ads on TV advising everyone with savings to be smart and make the investments work hard. Kropf's poem admits that his money is "lazy" and "wants to run away and join the lottery." Kropf said the poem is inspired by "guilt" that he pays little attention to his 401(k). "We're not all high-flying investors," he said. Other poems show a strong sense of place. "Time Not Remembered" seeks to capture the feeling of being somewhere that you saw once and will likely never see again, Kropf said. During a visit to central Asia, "You can go to these ancient cities abandoned in the Silk Road hundreds and hundreds of years ago," Kropf said. "They are still sitting there." The last section of the book, Penny Arcade Poems, consists of haiku and other very short poems. "I think there's a lot of power in 'less is more'," Kropf said. Referring to the brief poems, he explains, "It felt to me like a penny arcade, you pay a penny for a quick game in an arcade. It gives you maybe a couple of minutes of quick amusement." "A Midwestern Heart" is available from the usual online outlets such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Kropf doesn't have any readings scheduled in the Sandusky area yet but has readings set up in northern Ohio bookstores in September. Times are not confirmed yet, but he'll be at Gathering Volumes in Perrysburg on Sept. 12, at Loganberry Books in Shaker Heights on Sept. 14 and at Fireside Books in Chagrin Falls on Sept. 15.