Rediscovering the poet of peace
by Denis Gray - May 2020
In the modern world, many people are disillusioned and lost - overwhelmed with a fast-paced society that can feel cold and unloving. The solace and gratification found via constant mobile phone usage, often leads to more despondence, after the relentless barrage of an obtrusive world without boundaries.
Many people wonder if true happiness and simple contentment are still obtainable ? For a select few the answer is an unequivocal ‘yes’ - with much of life’s positivity not being found online, but in the pages of long out-of-print books. The activity of quietly reading a book alone is something many disillusioned adults are returning to. Some have been discovering books of inspiration - written in a simpler time by an aging peace poet who is all but forgotten.
His name is Walter Rinder and in the 1970's - his message of love warmed the hearts of millions. His books of positive poetry - accompanied by wondrous photographs sold in large numbers, touching the lives of many. Rinder's 1973 love poem 'Spectrum Of Love' is perhaps his best-known work and for nearly five decades - phrases from it are still being used by couples as part of their marriage vows. Its longevity is testament to the power which the poem exudes. According to an article in the San Francisco Examiner dated 14 Feb 1973, 'a million people have bought this poem, published by Celestial Arts of Millbrae, in book and in poster form. Scores, locked in the alienation of the times, have written the poet, or telephoned him, and the gist of their message is this: “You have put into words what I feel but cannot express.”
Fast-forward forty seven years and many are still 'locked in the alienation of the time'. Yet the times are now faster, more aggressive and far less loving. Which again begs the question - can the positive poetry, written decades ago by a peaceful philosopher, help to heal the modern world ?
Rinder is now in his mid-80's and resides in Oregon, a place he has called home for many years. 'I'd never been there', but I wanted something new and to revitalize my art - and the redwoods I just loved' he recalled during a recent interview. "I opened up an art gallery in Portland called 'This Speck of Earth' and I've been here (Oregon) ever since". The art gallery Rinder was referring to was a non-profit craft workshop and gallery for young people - a venture that was funded by his book royalties.
Born in Chicago, Rinder was raised in Southern California and attended Alhambra high school. He recalls early 1950's America as 'very simple. We didn't have TV at first so we spent a lot of time with people, y'know relating to each other. Now they don't, they relate to games and television. I was influenced by that - wanting to keep a simple life wanting to relate to people and love people. It's really what I wanted to do and the way I started doing that is with writing and photography - especially photography. That was more important than anything in the world to me, to be able to photograph somebody.
Rinder spent over a decade traveling across America, before setting up a photography studio in San Francisco. In 1968 he held the city's first all color photo gallery whilst at the same time immersed in his writing. During this time period Rinder began to produce greeting cards - a project that enabled him to combine his two loves of photography and poetry. It was an idea which would lead to Rinder being discovered by a local publisher, Celestial Arts. This was a successful partnership that would last several years. Rinder would publish all of his books in the 1970's via Celestial Arts. Rinder recalls how his publishing career began "it started by chance. I had a few greeting cards I'd made up and put them in bookstores (in Haight Street). A publisher in San Francisco saw my work and asked if I'd like to do some posters and greeting cards and he'd distribute them worldwide. That was very exciting because y'know I was just a human being and he's bringing me out into the world and touching people.”
Celestial Arts produced Walter's first poster of a young man walking alone at low tide. The accompanying caption read 'Alone we find solitude, together we find love'. “It sold fantastically well," recalled Rinder in an interview quoted in the 25th November 1973 edition of the The Tyler Courier Times. "The company was then willing to print a book of my verse'. The iconic image was used as the cover art for Rinder's debut publication from 1970 'Love Is An Attitude'. 'So many people thought that was their brother' recalled Rinder recently. 'That was taken at San Francisco beach, the entrance to San Francisco Bay that's where it was taken. I never saw his face, I never talked to him or anything like that. He just was standing there and I thought 'wow that's really neat' and I took a picture . So many people relate to it and you can't even see his face, isn't that funny?
With his move to picturesque Oregon, many of Rinder's books became filled with photographs of nature. 'I was trying to share and emphasize the fact that we are a part of nature and nature is a part of us and you can't separate the two. Nature is so perfect and so beautiful that if you enter into it, you'll be surprised at what you'll find within yourself, not outside and you don't have to use crutches, but all this is inside you. There's a lot of poetry in nature if you just look for it.
As you reach for your phone after reading this article, take a moment to reflect on Rinder’s comments about technology - (which appeared in the aforementioned 1973 Tyler Courier Times story) - as they are as poignant today as they were back then. The article states “Rinder’s books are now distributed internationally and he is deluged with fan mail from as far away as Tasmania. A woman in Hawaii wrote that her small children have abandoned their favorite children’s stories for bedtime reading of “Mr. Rinder’s Thoughts.” - Those thoughts concentrate on the establishment of a parallel society of “loving and caring” alongside the parent American society “with no idea of destroying the parent society.” - explained Rinder.
“This would give people a free choice of alternative societies,” he said with fierce conviction. “We don’t have that now. You have to live in a technological society with a money motive. The capacity for love is stifled and I want to open that up — the love for people and things in nature.
“As our society is directed, we are becoming merely spectators of life, largely through television. The family is breaking down. Technology is destroying our humanness. Kids are beginning to realize they want to live, to create, that they can do without television and electric toothbrushes. We must create an environment where people can be creative.”
___________________
Walter Rinder - a gentle man whose books filled the previous generation with love and hope. They may just bring some peace and happiness into your life too.
