Bob McAllister - Poetry
Together with
Everett Thompson and
Nancy Rekow, Bob McAllister is the editor of
Island of Geese and Stars: Bainbridge Island Poets and Artists (1984). The book is a collection of poems which came out of the Bainbridge Writing Workshop. McAllister, a former Bainbridge Island High School English teacher, was named an
Island Treasure in 2001. In 2003, Bob co-wrote and directed Bainbridge High School's production of
Joe Bean, an opera based on Bob's favorite story, the book of Job. His co-writer was Mark Nicols, a long-time collaborator of McAllister's. When Bob passed away in 2014, by his written request, Mark was asked to write a requiem for Bob. Using poetry from Joe Bean, and some new material, Mark translated the Joe Bean ethos into "Hippy Latin" & with Bainbridge singers, it became Bob's requiem, and was performed at his memorial in November 2014 at Bainbridge High School for around 1200 people. This performance can be found on Youtube by clicking
here. Dennis South, another Bainbridge director and friend of Bob's and Steve Stolee "directed" the piece. If you would like to see more video of Mark Nicols and Bob McAllister talking about the Joe Bean project, you can click
here.
