Armand Brint, like many artists, wears two professional hats; one as the Prevention Services Manager for the County’s Department of Public Health and one as Poet Laureate of Ukiah. Although already busy with his Public Health job, as a published poet and as the father of an eleven year old, Armand accepted the position of Poet Laureate in ordered to open the door to public recognition of poetry and literature as part of community life. Over the past dozen years, he has seen the arts of dance, theatre and visual arts flourish in Mendocino County, but the written word and its performance hasn’t blossomed in the same way. Not until recently anyway. With 50 – 60 people attending recent Writers Read programs it seems as though there is an insinuation of a community of poets and writers. This increase in interest in the written word is creating a momentum that makes the time right for a Poet Laureate program in Ukiah.

Armand is a popular reader in Mendocino County and a sincere advocate for poetry and the arts. While "Poet Laureate" is a somewhat imposing title, Armand sees it as an opportunity to showcase poetry, to galvanize the current interest in it and make it more accessible to everyone. As "Poet Laureate", Armand would like to bring more poetry into Ukiah classrooms, communities and organizations.

He especially sees working with children and youth in the schools as central to integrating poetry into daily life. He remembers his own school experience of being in a "gifted" class in which students did nothing but write poetry the entire time. This stimulated his interest in poetry and he kept writing every day. "These days, with technology and the emphasis on testing (in schools), there is a tendency towards a highly utilitarian language rather than looking at the figurative and metaphorical aspects of words. There has to be a balance," says Brint.

Armand practices what he preaches by bringing poetry and writing into his position as Prevention Services Manager for the County Department of Health. He integrates expressive writing and presentations in his own community health work and has supported school-based and grass roots programs that involve young people in the arts. He strongly believes that one proven way to keep kids engaged (and away from drugs, violence and related risky behaviors) is to encourage their creative expression.

Brint’s award winning poetry has appeared in many literary journals over the years and he is the author of Schools of Light (Linwood Publishers, 1995). He recently completed a second manuscript, the League of Slow Cities, which will be published by Tenacity Press in late 2001 or 2002. He received his Masters Degree in English/Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and has taught creative writing at colleges/universities in the Bay Area as well as at Mendocino College. He co-edited two books on preventive health care. Armand has lived in Ukiah for the last twelve years with his wife Patricia and son Zachary.

JUPITER HALL
(A child’s mispronunciation of Juvenile Hall)
by Armand Brint

Driving down Clay Street, my son turned to me and said-kids shouldn’t lie to policemen because if they do, they’ll be sent to Jupiter Hall. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to send youngsters out of their earthbound bodies- gift them with a moment of astral flight. Let them hang out on Ganymede viewing cosmic storms. Let them contra dance on the rings of Saturn; blow bubbles from the gilded bathtubs of Venice. I’d like them to experience a planet that does not suffer from lack of self-esteem. Let these children be born out of the head of Zeus and rule over their own gigantic selves. Let them drink star light through the straw of the Milky Way, and graduate from the fishbowl of time and space. And blessed by the largess of the universe, let policemen unbuckle their gun belts and float into the great orange eye of Jupiter. Where kids are already kicking up oceans of celestial dust.