Poet Laureate, Sonoma native Ada Limón, receives landmark honor

A bench honoring poet Ada Limón was dedicated on August 18 in front of Readers’ Books, the Sonoma bookstore where the future Poet Laureate of the United States worked while attending Sonoma Valley High School.

Limón attended the event, which included speeches from City of Sonoma Mayor Sandra Lowe,  Rebecca Hermosillo on behalf of Congressman Mike Thompson, Senator Bill Dodd, Sonoma Valley High School English Teacher Alison Manchester.

 

The words inscribed on the bench are taken from the poem “Conditional” in Limón‘s fourth book of poetry entitled Bright Dead Things. Very moved by the poem’s words, which were read at Lilla Weinberger’s funeral in 2019, Readers’ Books owner/founder Andy Weinberger noted, “It feels like kismet those words are forever memorialized in front of our store.”