This must be one of most amazing bequests in the history of philanthropy. Ruth Lilly, 87-year old heiress to the Eli Lilly fortune, has set up a $100 million endowment fund for the venerable Poetry Magazine. No, that's not a typo - that's ONE HUNDRED million smackers!
Poetry Magazine has been a hanging-on-by-the-skin-of-its-ass operation for generations. They have a staff of four operating out of cramped quarters in Chicago. Through thick and thin - mostly thin - they've managed to keep putting out an intelligently edited and influential publication.
Can you imagine how those staffers must feel? The magazine's contributors will now be able to receive a nice increase over the customary rate of two dollars per line. Poetry Magazine will now be able to live as long as the Earth itself.
If there's a heaven, Ruth Lilly has surely bought herself an express ticket.
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