Merchant Marine poet speaks on "Origins of the English Language&quot

Merchant Marine

poet speaks on "Origins of the English Language&quot

One of Fayette County's most

colorful characters has been elected to give the Writer's Group his interpretation

of how the English language originated. Joe Spensley, an award-winning

poet is a regular at the Writer's Group meeting which is open to all who

are interested in writing. The group meets at 10 a.m. most every Saturday

at the Fayette County Library behind the Administrative Complex at the

corner of highways 54 and 85.�

Joe has traveled the world

and has seen more than 30 countries since joining the English Merchant

Marines at the�age of 17. At the time it was very exciting to him but

after talking to the old-timers, he discovered he was lucky to be alive

after having survived the "Perfect Storm".��

He was born in Middlesex England

in the mid 1930s and later moved with his family to London to find work.

Unfortunately, World War II had broken out and his parents sent him on

a train at the age of 7 to Northwest England to stay with his�aunt during

the German bombing raids.

After a year he came back and

his siblings made fun of him because he had picked up the accent of the

region. Joe's dialect is the result of the many ethnic groups of

people who fought over and settled in different areas of England through

the centuries. They�included the Celts, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Berserkers,

Vandals, Romans, Vikings and Norman/French.�From these diverse groups�came

the many dialects and accents unique to almost every county in England.

To further prove his point Joe mentioned he once attended a funeral in

a nearby city and didn't understand a word they were saying.

To wrap up his speech, Joe

educated us on common�English phrases such as "It's Greek to me,"

"Too much of a good thing," "Vanish into thin air,"

"Without rhyme or reason" and� "Refuse to budge an inch."

All of these examples come from William Shakespeare.�

As is our good fortune, Joe

decided to visit his sister in Thomaston, Georgia in 1967 and later�became

a United States citizen in 1976. Being such a unique individual, I often

ask him what title we should give him. His reply is usually 'Poet

Laureate of the Flint River Basin and points South.'"�������

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