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Sandra Wade, Lake County’s poet laureate from 2006 to 2008, died July 18 in Hailsham, East Sussex, England, where she had lived since leaving Lake County in 2014.
Wade was born in Hertfordshire, England, in 1944. In February 1970 she came to Lake County.
“Flew to California, thinking it would be for one year, and ended up living there for 40 years or so!” she wrote on her Facebook page.
Wade helped establish the Lake County Arts Council in the early 1980s, served as president of the Lake County Writer’s Guild, and also would be a part of the creation of the community radio station KPFZ 88.1 FM, where she hosted the weekly literature program “Accent on Words.”
She worked as a massage therapist and yoga teacher, and became well-known for her poetry.
Casey Carney, Lake County poet laureate for 2014 to 2016, described Wade’s poetry as “ranging from the elegiac to the political, and from the spiritual to the nuts and bolts of living.”
Carolyn Wing Greenlee, another Lake County poet laureate from 2004 to 2006 and a friend of Wade’s, said Wade began working in poetry long before she became the laureate.
“At the Lake County Fair, she established the Danish system of judging in which there was no lone first place,” Greenlee said. “All pieces that reached a certain level of excellence received a blue ribbon. It was an effective way to build the confidence of aspiring poets in our area. In the early ’80s, I was one of those.”
Greenlee said Wade also was a regular at the monthly Writers Circle she hosted at the Lake County Arts Council, later taking over the responsibility and hosting numerous workshops for both poetry and prose.
Wade was named Lake County’s fourth poet laureate in 2006, a post she held for two years.
Greenlee said she remembered Wade’s oral interview when she was being considered for the Lake County poet laureate post.
She said she and the other previous poets laureate – Jim Lyle and James Blue Wolf – questioned each candidate then listened to them read.
“The poets were strong writers with interesting proposed ways of encouraging poetry in Lake County, but that voice, that perfect pitch in both her poems and her reading, knocked us off our chairs. It was unanimous: Sandra Wade would be No. 4,” Greenlee said.
In her role as poet laureate, Wade spearheaded the introduction of the Poetry Out Loud program in Lake County’s high schools and attended poets laureate gatherings across the nation.
She also kept busy with writing poetry, such as the short work, “Hope,” written during her tenure:
“Hope rose bursting up out of the earth
as a horse that lifts its head
snorting from the great velvet nostrils
submerged to take long draughts -
the muzzle streaming now with water
lifted up to air and light”.
“It’s her voice I remember most easily, and her bright eyes and silver hair. I can still hear the precise diction and soft sound,” said Greenlee. “Even when the words of a poem might be strong and acerbic, it still came in that gentle elegance and sturdy intelligence.”
In 2014, after 44 years of living in Lake County, Wade returned to her native England, where she continued her involvement in the arts community.
She joined the committee for the annual Hailsham Festival of Arts and Culture. There, she introduced that community’s first-ever poetry contest, just as she had done in Lake County.
Wade’s life, poetry and contributions to Lake County will be remembered from 4 to 5 p.m. Saturday during the “Wordweavers” radio program, hosted by Lourdes Thuesen on KPFZ 88.1 FM.
Thuesen said they will read and play recordings of some of Wade’s work, and share stories about her during the show.
Those wanting to share reminiscences about Wade are invited to call in during the program at 707-263-3435 or stop by the station at 149 N. Main St. in Lakeport.
“Sandra’s literary legacy, born of her zeal to encourage artistic expression, has influenced generations with the healing that comes from sharing with supportive community words offered with authenticity and no guile,” said Greenlee. “It was who she was, and we who knew her carry it in our own works and hearts always.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
