Walt Whitman Circle

The Walt Whitman Circle is a community of donors who have committed to making an annual donation of $250 or more. Whitman Circle donors provide a predictable base of support for our activities. Circle contributors receive invitations to pre-reading receptions with poets and other exciting opportunities. To contribute to the Whitman Circle, contact Tyler Meier at tmeier@email.arizona.edu or (520) 626-5880, or visit our donation page and designate your gift as a Whitman Circle contribution

Walt Whitman Circle Levels

All Whitman Circle contributors receive invitations Whitman Circle receptions featuring visiting Reading Series poets throughout the academic year, as well as periodic mailings and other recognitions of support.  Our suggested Whitman Circle giving levels are:

GIFTS OF $250+  Gifts of this size help purchase a classroom set of books for poet matinee visits to area K-12 classrooms.   

GIFTS OF $500+ Gifts of this size help us pay hosts for our podcast Poetry Centered, now with more than 18,000 downloads.

GIFTS OF $1,000+ Gifts of this size support eight week long teaching artist writing residency in area K-12 classrooms.

GIFTS OF $2,500+ Gifts of this size help underwrite a visit from a contemporary poet, ensuring an exciting program of visitors in our Reading and Lecture Series. 

 

Sponsors and Whitman Circle Members

 
Foundation and Business Support
Amazon Literary Partnership Poetry Fund and the Academy of American Poets
Arizona Commission on the Arts
Arizona Humanities
Art for Justice
Aslan Foundation
Albert and Elaine Borchard Foundation
Evo and Ora Deconcini and Thu Family Foundation 
Donald Pitt Family Foundation*
First Page Literacy Foundation
Morris A. Hazan Family Foundation
Lannan Foundation
Lehman Foundation
Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP
Line and Space, LLC
Literary and Prologue Society of the Southwest
Molly Blank Fund
National Endowment for the Arts
PEN America
Qatar Foundation International, LLC
William & Mary Ross Foundation
Schaffner Family Foundation
Shethar Foundation
Southwestern Foundation for Education and Historical Preservation
The Stocker Foundation
 
Memorial Gifts were received in memory of:
Ed Alley
Dean Azzarello
Winifred Bundy
Colleen Burns
Chris Carroll
Clint Colby
Henry Combellick
Joan Engel
Jimmye Hillman
Joshua Hurand
Frank Jennings
Shelley Lorentzen
Maxine Marshall
Steve Orlen
George Rosenberg
Peter Salomon
Lynn Saul
Lois Schaefer
Lois Shelton
Don and Luda Soldwedel
Curtis Stubbs
Theodore (Ted) Taubeneck
Jeffrey Taylor
Katherine Way
Howard Zogott
 
Honorary Gifts were received in honor of:
Barbara Allen
Susan Bansak 
Gail Browne and Frances Sjoberg
Alison Deming
Norma and Stanley Feldman
Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman
Louise Greenfield
Cynthia Hogue
Randall Rodman Holdridge
Tony Luebberman
Helen and John Schaefer
Sandy Szelag
Sheila Tobias

CantoMundo donations of $250.00 or more
Anonymous
Jacob Shores Argüello
M. Soledad Caballero
Eduardo Corral
Amy Kastely
Raina Leon
Deborah Paredez
Emmy E. Pérez
Jennifer Soriano

 

* Denotes charter Whitman Circle member

LIFETIME GIFTS of $10,000 +
L.R. Benes
Gail Browne and Frances Sjoberg*
Winifred Bundy*
Francisco Cantu c/o Art for Justice Fund
Georgiann Carroll
Alison Hawthorne Deming*
Stephen Golden and Susan Tarrence
Louise Greenfield and Simon Rosenblatt

James Hensley*
Randall Rodman Holdridge*
Ashley Hurand
Lillian Janssen
Anne Maley Schaffner and Timothy Schaffner
Max McCauslin and John Smith
Anonymous gift in honor of Jimmye Hillman*
Jojene Mills
Patricia Morgan
Michael Rattee*
Anonymous*
Helen and John Schaefer*
Richard Shelton*
Peggy Shumaker and Joseph Usibelli*
Donna Somma
Susan vonKersburg
James and Judith Walsh*
Christina Zogott

SPONSOR CIRCLE $2,500+
Christine Baines*
Stephen and Susan Bansak
Anonymous

Camille and Aaron Botelho
Archibald and Laura Brown*
Cameron Cohen and Lisa Wise*
Dino DeConcini and Elizabeth Murfee DeConcini
Shirley Estes
Norma and Stanley Feldman*
Doug and Elizabeth Friman
Marc and Muriel Goldfeder
David and Virginia Griffis
Linda Patton Hoffman
Marsha and David Irwin*
John LaWall
Sandra Maxfield

Theodore Maynard and Barbara Sherman
Tyler Meier and Katie Patt
Nancy Pitt 
Jim and Anita Rankin
Donald and Nancy Rollings
Robert and Lisa Swift* / TCI Wealth Advisors

William and Joanna Westcott
Paul Wheeler
J. Stanley Yake

DIRECTOR'S CIRCLE $1,000+
Melissa Brechon and Jay Clark
Dianne Bret Harte
Anonymous
Janell Cannon
Karen Christensen and Kenneth Kay
Thomas Cobb*
Geraldine and Stephen Connolly*
Ronna Fickbohm
Blair Finkelstein
Teresa Foley
Harry George and Cita Scott
Gloria Giffords
James and Louise Glasser*
Anne Marie and Philip Hall
William and Leslie Holmes*
John Hudak*
Debra Jacobson
Judith Jance
Joan Kaye Cauthorn
LaVelle Family Charitable Trust

Melanie Maier*
Jeanne and Christopher Osgood
John Peck
Pamela Portwood and Mark Taylor*
Gregory Sale and Michael Tucker
Maria Schuchardt
Anonymous*
Nancy Wall*
Susan and Leslie Wallach*
Nancy Warfield
Mary Wildner-Bassett*

Karen Williams

BENEFACTOR'S CIRCLE $500.00+
Susan Hardy Aiken*
Barbara Allen
David Bartlett and Janice Wezelman
Dorothy Blake
Kerstin Block / Buffalo Exchange
Sheryl Boris
James and Linda Brandi
Jane and Marvin Brown
Wendy Burk and Eric Magrane*
Colleen and James Burns*
Sylvia and Alejandro Canelos
Robin Carter
Ron Engel
Elizabeth and Bryan Falcón
Richard Feinberg and Robin Verdon
Mary Lou Forier and John Wahl*
Jerry and Lynn Greenberg
Marilyn J. Halonen*
Helen Hillman
Cynthia Hogue
Janet and Joe Hollander
E. Courtney Johnson 
Linda Lou Lamb*
Kirk Markarian & Emily Walsh
Randolph Maxted
Joseph McGarry
Matthew and Diane Meier 
Ron Pullins and Leslie Powell
Anonymous
Steven Russo 
Kathleen and Douglas Sanders
Gregory Scaven
Ann Schaefer-Reid and Andy Reid
Robin and David Shambach*
Anonymous
Randall Steven Smith
Susan and Robert St Pierre
George and Colleen Subiti
Merle Turchik and Gibb Windahl*
Priscilla and Thomas Turner
Bonnie Wehle
Matthew and Lisa Winkler

SUSTAINER CIRCLE $250+
Adele Barker
John Barrett and Anne Breckenridge Barrett
Mary Ellen Bartholomew
Kate Bernheimer*
Lucinda and Bill Bliss
Besty Bolding
Joyce Bolinger
Karen Brennan
Kittredge Bret Harte
Jennifer Britz
Charlie Buck
Sharon Bundy and Bruce Irby
William Burnett
Sue Caplow
Colleen Carri
Robert Casper
Rodrigo Ceballos
Mary Clack
Shelley Cohn and Mollie Trivers
Anonymous
Scott DeWald and Deborah Jamieson
Anonymous*
Jennifer Delahunty
Janice Dewey
Seth Schindler and Diane Dittemore
Anonymous
Anonymous
Alain-Philippe Durand
Darrell Durham
Elizabeth Evans and Stephen Reitz*
Lawrence Evers and Barbara Grygutis
Anonymous
Karen Falkenstrom
Anne and Noel Fidel
Robert Fouch
Anonymous
Patricia Gehr
Mary Jo Ghory

Suzannah Gilman
Kelly and Christopher Goldsmith
Lori Gravley
John Gray and Nancy Silvis
Christine and Jonathon Gross*
Bruce Gungle*
Anonymous
Ralph Hager

James Hannley and Pamela Powers Hannley*
Cynthia and Jorgen Hansen
Margaret Hartman
Law Office of David E. Hill, PLC
Marcia and Albert Hunker
Amanda Hunt and Chris Chavez*
Carol and Gary Hurand
Sara Hurand and Elie Weiss
Pamela Jackson
Gayle and Frederic Jandrey*
Jeremy Kahn
Jerrold Kalstein
Joyce Kalstein
Reed Karaim and Aurelie Sheehan
Susan and Douglas Kliman
Jodi Knobel Feuerhelm
Philip and Kay Korn
Sarah Kortemeier and Keith Martin
Pierre Landau and Katya Peterson
Jane Levin and Judy Reisman
Robert Lipinczyk and Shelli Hall Lipinczyk
Donald and Margaret Lofgren
Tony and Susan Luebbermann*
Mark Luprecht
Ned Mackey
Adrian Matejka
Stuart and Nancy Mellan
William McCoy and Whitney Vale
Kate McMillan and William Krauss
Gary and Susan Miller
Thomas and Kerstin Miller*
Susie Morris
James Nations
Chuck and Susan Ott
Rodney Phillips*
Anonymous
Phyllis and Robert Reid
Janet Rives
Mary Romaniello
Rona Rosenberg

Barrie Ryan*
Arlene Schuchner
Roger Shanley
Victoria Shaw
Thomas Sheridan and Christine Szuter
Harriet Silverman
Marjorie Simon
Carolyn and Richard Szatkowski
Sandra Szelag and Carol Kells*
​Erec Toso
David Van Houten
Anonymous
Bill and Brenda Viner*
Tom and Barbara Waldron*
Phillip and Jo Anne Woodall