Local poet Larry Killmer with a copy of his debut collection. PHOTO BY DLB PHOTOGRAPHY

It wasn’t a lifelong goal or a product of years of passion, no local retiree Larry Kilmer wrote his book on accident. Whether it be pure happenstance or pure dedication, the end result is the same as a piece of literary art has been made, with every word smelling faintly of gunpowder.

Former counselor Larry Kilmer, now in his eighties, has many things taking up his idle hours, but until the last few years, writing wasn’t one of them. A reader, but not what you’d call a bookworm, Larry didn’t start writing till the pandemic a couple of years back.

“The process took about 5 years to develop. Starting with me writing poems for my one hundred year old mother who was isolated during the pandemic. I found it difficult to write a regular letter and be entertaining, so I started writing poems that related to growing up on the farm and my experiences with school kids as a counselor,” he said, talking about how all of this came to be.

“Getting and Giving: A Poetry Collection” is the debut work by Mr. Kilmer, writing under the name of I.C. Remlik. This isn’t your stodgy English teacher’s poetry collection, as this book beats with the heart of a cowboy. Some of Larry’s biggest influences are the most well-known spur wearers in history.

“My inspirations come more from Carl Rogers and Will Rogers more than any poet. Well, maybe Baxter Smith. I’d shock a poetry expert. The common thread in my book is people should listen to each other,” he said.

Kilmer is not trying to be Shakespeare, as it says on his book’s Amazon page, but he’s trying to spread joy in one of the little ways a person can.

“I don’t really consider myself a writer, just someone who had things to share,” Kilmer said.

With the help of his son, Kilmer wrote and published Getting and Giving as a way to vet his feelings and get what’s in, out. Those who have read the work have truly enjoyed it, as one person reviewed the book.

“Your diverse messages are contemporary and insightful without being preachy. You have that wonderful ability to force the reader to come to his own conclusion. Humor, with shades of Will Rogers, and wit with shades of Mark Twain,” they wrote.

“It’s a collection meant to help people smile, inspire them to listen to others, and share my sensitive side,” Kilmer said.

On every page, you can see how this theme shines through. Even the dedication shows this, as it reads, “This book is dedicated to all the seniors, relatives, neighbors,health care workers, school counselors, social workers, psychologists, barbers, beauticians, secretaries, and bartenders, who have ever taken their time to say, ‘Yes, sit down I’ll be glad to listen to you’.”

So, make sure to get over to Amazon and get your copy of Larry Kilmer’s poetry book that answers the question “What if John Wayne had the heart of Keats?”

The poem on the back cover is one of the author’s favorites and is entitled “Pieces.”

In a heavily locked yoke you be

A terrible puzzle you cannot see

A friend can’t carry your heavy yoke

Or turn your puzzle into a joke

Or break open the big rusty locks

But, their listening may get lots…

Of pieces… out of the box

No one ever solved a puzzle

No matter how able…

Before they got all the pieces

Out on the table

Getting and Giving by I.C. Remlik is available now.