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CSB recycling coordinator to receive poetry award Sept. 13
09/05/2008
It is often said that a mother’s intuition is always right. This was definitely the case for Larry Schug.
It seems that young Larry’s destiny was determined when he was 2 years old. His mom, Evelyn, sat her two young sons on her lap. To 1-year-old Mike she said, “You’re going to be my businessman” and to Larry she said, “You’re going to be my poet.”
Of course, Schug, 61, was too young to recall the story personally but apparently his beloved mother had sealed his fate early in his life.
Fast forward to 2008 and Schug, recycling coordinator for the College of Saint Benedict (CSB), is the recipient of one of four $25,000 awards in the 2008 McKnight Artist Fellowships for Writers competition for his work in poetry. The Loft Literary Center, a comprehensive literary center based in Minneapolis, announced the awards in early March. A reception honoring the four winners will be Sept. 13 at the Target Performance Hall, second floor of the Open Book Building, 1011 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis.
Schug also was recently awarded a Central Minnesota Arts Board individual artist grant for his poetry.
A humble man with a shy smile, Schug feels honored by the recognition.
“I am thrilled to the core but I am also humbled because there are so many good poets around and to be chosen from among them is really an honor,” he said.
“It’s all my life”
Employed in the Maintenance Department at CSB for 31 years, Schug shrugs when asked about how a recycling job and poetry fit together.
“I don’t separate my life into compartments. I don’t just have a job and then have my poetry. It’s all my life,” Schug said.
His “life” has been filled with interesting twists and turns.
Encouraged by Benedictine Sister Janet Thielges, his teacher for third, fourth and fifth grade at St. John’s Cantius School in St. Cloud, Schug was constantly writing. “I communicate better with a pen in my hand,” he explained.
He moved on through high school and into what he describes as a “checkered college career” begun in 1965 and ending in 1976 with a degree from St. Cloud State University in geography and environmental studies. In between the starts and stops of college, Schug was drafted in the Army and sent to Turkey, and built a life resume that gives richness to his writing – stints as a grave digger, fire fighter for the Department of Natural Resources and as a dishwasher.
In 1977, he landed at CSB in the maintenance department where he has been recycling coordinator for 20 years. And he didn’t get serious about his writing until after the death of his parents in the early and mid-1980s. His first book of poetry, “Scales Out of Balance,” was published in 1990 and followed by three additional books: “Caution: Thin Ice” (1993), “Obsessed with Mud” (1997),and “The Turning of the Wheels” (2001).
Supportive workplace
He credits CSB with nurturing his writing, offering him opportunities to attend lectures and provide support for his work.
“I’m grateful for the attention that St. Ben’s has given me. Our community is my family in a very real way,” Schug said.
English department professors at College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University ask him to speak to about half-dozen classes per year and he’s presented to Elderhostel groups and a conference for teachers – all through the college.
CSB President MaryAnn Baenninger is extremely pleased about the McKnight award and other recognition Schug has received.
“Here at Saint Ben’s, we’ve strived to create an environment that is supportive and encouraging of all our employees not only in their careers, but also in their personal endeavors. Larry is the essence of someone who’s thrived in both aspects of his life. I’m thrilled for Larry that he continues to be recognized for his outstanding work.”
Other passions
Schug’s life isn’t strictly about poetry and recycling.
He enjoys spending time with his wife, Juli Rule, at their home in St. Wendel Township, which is on a 55-acre bog.
And for the past 15 years, he has led one of the college’s Alternative Spring Break programs, a trip to Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, N.M., where he and 10 College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University students spend a week helping out with environment-related projects at the ranch.
“This experience has been one of the highlights of my life. I enjoy a good rapport with the students and the trip suits me to the ‘T,’ ” he explained. “I always hate when the trip is over because the groups get really close.”
What does the future hold?
“I don’t ever plan to retire. I like hanging out with 20-year-olds and writing poetry,” Schug said.
That would make his mom happy.
Read a sampling of Larry's poems
To order one of Larry's books, call the College of Saint Benedict bookstore at (320) 363-5165.
Diane Hageman |