Lanny Poffo Interview

Lanny Poffo Loans His Talent to Children's Literature and Broadway

May 2, 2009

Lanny the Non-Smoking Dad keeps busy with his anti-smoking campaign, but has also written poetry for other causes, including the Special Olympics.

Lanny Poffo’s main mission has been to warn children of the dangers of tobacco, but he has kept a varied schedule. His interests in poetry are still broad, and he has even tried his hand at acting.

Lanny Poffo's Poetry Collections and the Jasonbeck Award

The road to publication hasn’t been easy for Lanny, as he says, “I’ve been turned down more times than a bed sheet!” Wrestling with Rhyme was self-published in part because he wasn’t sure who speak to or where to send his work in the publishing world. He says, “it seemed like you needed a literary agent to sell something and agents don’t handle poetry.”

Like any manuscript on the road to publication, his collection saw a few editorial changes to help it reach its potential. The changes that Lanny made helped to make Limericks From the Heart and Lungs! a true contender. To that end, the collection won the Jasonbeck Award for excellence in children’s literature.

Lanny Poffo and Theresa Sareo

Lanny’s poetic inspiration stretches much farther than wrestling and non-smoking. He has written poems for other occasions and to honor individuals and causes such as the Special Olympics. For example, he wrote a poem to honor baseball great Ted Williams. When he writes a poem about a person, Lanny says that he writes it in such a way that a reader will know everything there is to know about them when it’s over.

By using Longfellow’s “The Village Blacksmith” as an example, Lanny says that his poetry says everything that must be said about the person in question. He reasons that a reader will know everything about Longfellow’s Blacksmith, even if they knew nothing about him before. In this same way, Lanny writes on topics that have touched his heart.

Lanny was invited to recite a poem for the singer and songwriter Theresa Sareo, who has returned to singing after a 2002 accident on 34th and Park in New York City. This accident caused by a drunk driver forced the amputation of her right leg and kept her inactive for seven years. For Lanny, the invitation was one that he could not turn down. Theresa’s courageous return to singing touched his heart and her return performance has been foremost on his mind.

What Else is Lanny Poffo Up To?

For those wondering what Lanny Poffo has been up to, he continues to keep himself busy. In addition to these projects, he has also been seen on Fox News, starred in the horror film Curse of the Wolf, and wrote a poem for the “Battle of the Billionaires” between Vince McMahon and Donald Trump at Wrestlemania 23.

The copyright of the article Lanny Poffo Interview in Children's Verse is owned by Derek Clendening. Permission to republish Lanny Poffo Interview in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.