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The Henry Morgenthau III Poetry Prize is a $3,000 prize for a first book of poetry by a writer age 70 or older. A nationally acclaimed poet will act as judge for the prize, and the manuscript will be published by Passager Books, a press dedicated to making public the voices of older writers.

The prize honors Henry Morgenthau III, author of A Sunday in Purgatory, his first collection of poems at age 99. After a distinguished career as a writer and producer for public television, Mr. Morgenthau began writing poetry in his nineties, pursuing it with great seriousness and passion. He gave readings and book signings, enthralling audiences of all ages with his intelligence and wit, and fielded correspondence from people inspired by his poems. His audience was changed by him and he in turn by them. As he said, “To finally, in my nineties, after such a long and public life, be able to write and publish poems — to connect with other people from my deepest, truest self — was a gift. To be open to others in this way . . . I don’t know why I waited so long.”

Passager journal published a remembrance of Henry by his assistant, Vince Granata, along with one of his last poems, in Issue 66.