Family, friends, and current and former students of Jack Collom gathered at Naropa’s Performing Arts Center on August 20 to celebrate and remember a great poet and true friend. Guests included Jane Wodening, Sierra Collom, Chris Collom, Dan Hankin, Elizabeth Robinson, Val Wheeler, Andrew Schelling, Josepha Conrad, Anne Waldman, Izzy Martinez, Maureen Owen, Reed Bye, Lyn Hejinian, Joe Richey, and Jack’s beloved wife, Jennifer Heath.

Poetry was ALWAYS a part of his conversation. Jack served as adjunct faculty at Naropa for more than thirty years. First joining the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics in 1986, Jack was a boundless source of energy and inspiration. He reveled in collaboration and spontaneous composition and was an incredibly prolific writer, with twenty-six books of poetry and prose. Just two weeks before his passing, he gave a brilliant as ever reading at the Summer Writing Program.

Jack pioneered the study of Ecology Literature and Poetry at Naropa. The field has since exploded, with Jack and his students at the forefront. As Jennifer Heath says, “All Jack's work … describes, however subtly, his love of nature and devotion to the wellbeing of the planet.” Jack was also widely acclaimed for his community service and work with children. He established Naropa’s Project Outreach, helping connect hundreds of Kerouac School students with teaching opportunities at schools, shelters, retirement homes, and prisons. The class inspired similar programs at colleges and universities throughout the United States. No doubt, Jack’s love of poetry and nature will continue to reverberate for years to come.