Now and Then

Director and screenwriter Billy Wilder said, on his 92nd birthday, “I think I wasted my eighties.” Motivated by Wilder’s disclosure as he approached his own eighth decade, actor, director, and writer Leigh Lawson embarked on a quest to assemble some of his previously unpublished poems, written during an astonishing 60-year career.     This captivating first collection is accompanied by a background of fascinating memories, intriguing stories, and anecdotes from around the time of each poem’s appearance. Sometimes very funny, sometimes alarmingly moving, Now and Then is the extraordinary journey of a life from poverty and abuse to achievement and fulfilment, throughout which poetry has played a major role.