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Reclusive Poole poet built worldwide following

8:00pm Thursday 1st October 2009 in


A RECLUSIVE Poole poet who died alone has been mourned across the globe by an online community now fighting to preserve her legacy.

Margaret Griffiths, who died aged just 62, had no known family, and just a handful of people attended her funeral.

But, through the online poetry forums where she posted her work under the pen names Maz or Grasshopper, she won a wealth of respect and friendship.

Tributes from as far afield as Australia, Greece and across the United States flooded into poetry forum Eratosphere after news of her death, and forum members began scouring the web to find and preserve her poetry.

See link below for tributes and some of Margaret's work

Janet Kenny, from Queensland, wrote: “Dear, dear Maz. I loved and respected her. How sad to know that her clear and beautiful and funny mind is no longer with us.”

Others praised her insightful critiques, her poise and wit.

Fellow contributor and businessman David Anthony, CEO of Hitachi Capital, has been entrusted with the task of pursuing the publication of her work.

He said Margaret’s talent was recognised during her lifetime, and a publisher had pursued her for years. But now her solicitors were trying to trace her next of kin for permission for her poetry to be published posthumously.

Mr Anthony added: “She wasn’t interested in being well-known, but I think she would be delighted that her legacy in the form of a collection of her work survived her.”

He added that she had not appeared reclusive through the internet, but a “bright, alert entertaining mind” and a “highly regarded” poet.

Margaret’s closest friend was David Adkins, from Buckinghamshire, who regularly spoke to and saw her.

He said she had worked as a doctor’s receptionist, but given up work to care for her mother and then her father through long illnesses.

She had been dogged by ill health and periods of depression, but was “a loving, kind, gentle person who gave so much to others in return for so little.”

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Comments(21)

WIGGINSv says...
8:22pm Thu 1 Oct 09

Nice LADY.

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rainbowkisses says...
8:53pm Thu 1 Oct 09

Rest in Peace Margaret.

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rainbowkisses says...
9:24pm Thu 1 Oct 09

I have just been on to Eratosphere and read some of Margarets work. That Lady had class, no doubt about it. It's well worth a visit, not only to read her poems, but also to read the comments left by her fellow writers. Well done Janet and David for contacting the Echo.

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Mike Alexander says...
1:12am Fri 2 Oct 09

Knowing Maz was a lot like having an epistolary friendship with Keats, without Endymion. She was the real deal, everything.

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Rose Kelleher says...
1:24am Fri 2 Oct 09

Maz was witty and wise as well as extraordinarily talented. She will be missed by many, for many reasons.

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Bill Lantry says...
1:54am Fri 2 Oct 09

What a brilliant poet! Not every place is blessed with such a graceful spirit. She was respected around the world, and many are working to make sure her memory endures!

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rocek says...
2:47am Fri 2 Oct 09

Maz will be missed wherever the internet reaches. Her poetry touched
us all.


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Susan McLean says...
3:03am Fri 2 Oct 09

Emily Dickinson, too, was an intensely private person who viewed her poetry as her letter to the world. Margaret Griffiths was fearless in her writing, and those who read her work remembered it long after.

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Rick Mullin says...
3:08am Fri 2 Oct 09

I remember when Maz left the boards for a while and how happy I was to see her back when she came back. She was extremely generous in her critique, setting a standard for quality in her own work. We'll hear her voice.

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Julie Stoner says...
5:03am Fri 2 Oct 09

See link below for some of Margaret's workDear Citizens of Poole: I hope you'll come to know and love Maz's work as we far-flung foreigners have. A rare master of both free verse and formal poetry (especially the sonnet), Maz was truly a significant 21st-century poet, in addition to being a kind and wise soul. I'm proud to have known her, even if only online.

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Alan Wickes says...
6:36am Fri 2 Oct 09

I'm delighted that the Bournemouth Echo has run this story. When the extent of Margaret's prodigious talent becomes more widely appreciated then I think the quality and range of her writing will be recognised as the work of a significant poet. It is gratifying that this the process has been acknowledged in her local community.
If any one is interested in finding out a little more about her work, I posted an essay on Margaret's work on my website. http://www.alanwicke
s.org/goodbye_grassh
opper.htm#Goodbye%20
Grasshopper.


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peter richards says...
8:20am Fri 2 Oct 09

Farewell to a kindred spirit. I'll go along with all that's been said here and give thanks to those who have said it.
I gather there are legal issues involved in establishing rights to whatever work remains extant, but if and when it's done, don't forget to buy the book.

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Aethelgar says...
9:37am Fri 2 Oct 09

See link below for tributes and some of Margaret's workLovely to see you, Maz, having seen you so vividly in another way through your work. None of the praise is hyperbole. We really have lost a major poet, though we'll make sure the poetry is never lost. What riches there are still to read and re-read in your generous, lyrical and wise writing. Great and unique are over-used words, but in your case they are exactly right.

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Janice D. Soderling says...
2:09pm Fri 2 Oct 09

From the very first piece I read by her, I was captivated by her poetic acumen. She was that rara avis: a poet.

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Michael Cantor says...
5:07am Sat 3 Oct 09

There was an extraordinary quality to Maz's work - sparkle, honesty, humor, sheer joy in being able to play with the English language - and an intelligence in both her poetry and her various critiques, and in her comments on our internet poetry community, which set her apart from the rest of us. Maz was a very unique and special talent. Her presence graced us all.

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Mitchell Geller says...
7:14am Sat 3 Oct 09

Seven years ago, at 51, I started to write again after a 15 year rest. Shortly thereafter, tentatively, I began to post on a couple of online workshops. Much to my surprise I got an email, out of the blue, from Maz, with some wonderfully pungent comments that were extremely salutary, and an invitation to send her poems for WORM. As the years passed we also belonged to the same online book group. What a generous, perspicacious and supremely talented woman she was. I am so grateful to have known her, however slightly and however briefly, these last few years.

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Pua Sandabar says...
4:42am Sun 4 Oct 09

What a wonderful photo, Maz! ...though we always knew you were beautiful! You've been a constant, steady force on the boards, and we miss you, miss you, miss you! Your brilliance, your toughness, your candor, your laughter, the way you wanted to make us all better was always delivered with love. At least we have your amazing poems, Maz ...and now the World does too!

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Nigel Holt says...
9:26pm Fri 9 Oct 09

I only knew Margaret online, but I do feel odd that she's no longer with us. And as she wrote such wonderful poetry, I for one am saddened there will be no more. For the first issue of the poetry magazine I co-edit, we solicited work from her, as we'd known her and her work from the Burgundy poetry board. She was an inspiration, in that she helped me write a collection of poems I'm particularly proud of. I enjoyed working with her too, as a co-editor for an issue of her Worm poetry magazine, and we corresponded occasionally by mail. I was very sad to hear of her death and the situation. I'm delighted she is now starting to be known to the people of Bournemouth, as they have a poet of stature in their midst, and when her posthumous work comes out, I hope that it receives the encomia it deserves in Bournemouth, and for generations to come.

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Staff Fiona says...
6:28pm Sun 11 Oct 09

I have been Staff at The Gazebo, the online poetry workshop at The Alsop Review, since 2000, and participating as a writer there since 1997. In all that time I have never known Maz to be other than supportive of others writings, clear and precise in her critiques, generous with her praise, honest with her comments. Her poetry was often beautiful, sometimes outrageous, sometimes caustic but always truthful and perceptive. I never met her in person, but I counted her a friend, and I am deeply saddened that my friend is gone.

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Trace E says...
5:12pm Mon 12 Oct 09

Upon learning of Margaret's passing my mind went searching for the memories associated with her. I tried calling myself a poet and posting some of my work on a internet board known for its honest, yet brutal, critiques. I received a rather harsh critique from Margaret (Maz) that was eye-opening. Then I got an email from her. It was in the nature of a pep talk and I never forgot it.

Her poetry will be remembered after most of us are dust. The world is just that much smaller without her.

Maz, As this, and everything above and sure to follow, you were loved.

T

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N Bruno says...
10:48pm Mon 12 Oct 09

I only knew Maz from her on-line persona. Even though we were often at odds when it came to the interpretation of poetry, you always knew where you stood with her. She was a talented poet and a fine critic. The on-line poetry workshop we both frequented will be at loss to replace her wit and wisdom. She will be missed.

Nick Bruno

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