How shall we answer when Death calls our name? Having lived our lives avoiding thoughts of death, how do we respond to that final reality? Walt Whitman, America's greatest poet, gave deep thought to such questions. This volume of selected Whitman poetry speaks to an inner wisdom that is only strengthened as death draws near. Comforting and intimate, Whitman's words are collected here to help ease the journey that we all will take. An Allen Ginsberg essay addresses Walt Whitman's heroic contribution to the heart and soul of American thought. Twenty duotone photographs that reflect the movement and the mystery of life illustrate Whitman's poems. Some of this century's most brilliant photographers are represented here, including W. Eugene Smith, Ernst Haas, Linda Conner, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Frederick Sommer, Aaron Siskind, William Garnett, Ian Berry, Minor White, John Sexton, and Wynn Bullock. Their black and white imagery captures the stark contrasts, the gentle graying, and the paradox that is our life and death. Paul Vest edited this volume of Whitman's poetry, The Open Walt Whitman on Death & Dying, which was published in 1996. Joe Vest (Paul Joe Vest) died of AIDS in Boulder, Colorado at the age of 49 on April 20, 1994 before the book was published. The preface was written by Jan Vest and the introduction by Debra Floyd and Alvaro Cardona-Hine.