Reaching Upward and Tell My Brother

Baltimore, MD: Garamond Press. Good in Fair dust jacket. 1946. Hardcover. 97 pages. Signature on the cover and frontispiece is most probably a facsimile signature. Max Rubin, 1894-1973, was the Poet Laureate of Baltimore. When he came from Russia to the US he could not speak one word of English, and in fact never studied English but learned from reading and listening to others. Max Industries of Baltimore, now known as the MICA Graduate Studio Center, was the also the location a Baltimore clothing manufacturer established by Max Rubin - Mr Rubin had the reputation of employing people with disabilities. His business grew from a modest start in the 1920s with a small chain of stores in West Virginia and Pennsylvania before he moved to Baltimore in the 1930s. Rubin wrote over three thousand poems on such varied topics. Theodore R. McKeldin, Mayor of Baltimore, twice, from 1943 to 1947 and again from 1963 to 1967, also governor of MD from 1951 to 1959, awarded the title of Poet Laureate of Baltimore to Max Rubin Jan 3, 1947 while he was Mayor of Baltimore. Some of the poems included in this book include : Baltimore, I Am Grateful; Maryland; West Virginia; Hesbon Hanefesh (Inventory of the Soul) ; The Avenue of Americas. The last page is a tribute of Mrs Brana Rubin, Max's mother, written by Carroll Dulaney of the Baltimore News-Post, 1949, which tells of her Orthodox faith of ancient Israel, her charitable givings, and her marrying her brother-in-law when her sister died, raising a brood of children. Clean book, good binding, DJ has edge tears, chipping at the top edge. .