About the Book

A breath-taking river with lush wetlands and Florida''s natural environment are Bennett’s inspiration for The River Widens. It is a poetically stunning collection about the moods and creatures of a Florida tidal river. Bennett’s meditations and observations, coupled with his biologist’s perspective of the Braden River, create succinct, wry and lyrical poems. On a dock or a flats walk, or a kayak paddle, Bennett transforms sightings into poems that capture the tempo of the river, its beauty and complexity, along with the struggles and accommodations among its wildlife. His natural curiosity about Florida’s river life results in unique poems about the natural world as varied as Florida''s riverine environment.

About the Author

Thomas Peter Bennett earned a B.A. from Florida State University and a Ph.D. from Rockefeller University. He taught natural science at Harvard, biology at University of Kentucky and while serving as Professor and Chairman of Biological Sciences at Florida State University. He served as President of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia for a decade; Professor and Director of the Florida Museum of Natural History for another decade; and now is a Courtesy Professor, University of Florida. He recently retired as Director, South Florida Museum.

A Florida native, Bennett’s pursuits, as in his youth, include writing, gardening, hiking, birding, fishing, canoeing and kayaking.

Bennett is the author of many scientific textbooks and articles. He recently published poems in Poetalk, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, Cosmos Club Poets through the Years, Red Owl and Pegasus Review, among others. Many are collected in his five chapbooks and an anthology, Nature, As One Sees It: Poems By. In Writer’s Digest, Michael J. Bugeja commented: “A biochemist and published poet, Bennett packs so much information into so few lines that his lyrics resonate long afterward.”