Athletes, Activism, & Apple boughs

My good friend and fellow poet John Telford has been a world-ranked sprinter, a championship track coach, a teacher, a college professor, and a Detroit Public Schools superintendent. He remains a lifelong civil-rights activist.

- Blane Smith, All-American Purdue and NFL linebacker

Telford is Detroit's Robert Frost! - Joseph Preville, PH.D., Harvard University

John's Detroit-oriented poetry is shameless kiss-and-tell - and it's brilliant! - Dr. Stuart Kirschenbaum, Michigan Boxing Commissioner Emeritus

This All-American athlete and physical marvel tells poetic tales of love and ecstasy with a blunt, unruly truth that transcends the tyrannical rules of decorum. - Sunanda Samaddar Corrado, Ph.D., Columbia University

Dr. Telford's autobiographical verse is evocatively erotic, and he's also a poetic genius. - Mildred Williams, Coordinator, the Detroit Poets & Authors Society

Coach Telford is a legend. - Spencer Haywood, NBA All-Star forward

Herein are fascinating pages of Detroit's athletic and civil-rights history, also recounting this busy Bard's AMATORY history, as well. - Greg Dunmore, Pulsebeat TV Arts, Entertainment, and Culture journalist, Detroit

John Telford has fully tasted the forbidden fruit. - Willie Wooten, vice president (retired), Detroit Public Schools Organization of Administrators and Supervisors

I'm going to read this poetic masterpiece over and over again! Come and join me! - Greg Thrasher, radio and TV commentator, Washington, D.C