Explanation
Title
To honor, recognize and celebrate the life of David J. Citino, poet, professor, and advocate for the arts, culture, and community in the City of Columbus, and to extend sincere condolences to his family and friends.
Body
As the author of twelve poetry collections and an award-winning English professor at the Ohio State University, David Citino nurtured the talents of 20 years' worth of students and colleagues, leaving a legacy of artists, writers and poets for generations to come.
David worked tirelessly in central Ohio as an advocate for the arts, serving as board chairman of the Greater Columbus Arts Council, and twice as board president of the Thurber House.
During his 35-year career, David's work was published in most of the major poetry magazines and earned him numbers awards, including the Poetry Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Governor's Award, Major Fellowship from the Ohio Arts Council, first annual Poetry Award from the Ohioana Library Association, and the Ohio Humanities Council's Bjornson Award for Distinguished Service to the Humanities.
Always in David's thoughts were his wife, Mary Helen Hicks Citino, and his three children - Nathan, Dominic and Maria - and his grandchildren.
David left an indelible impression on the people whose lives he touched, through his teaching, mentoring, leadership, and especially through his poetry. He wrote: "Poetry is music and dance, a making and a seeing and a knowing, a way of staving off the cold of earth, stone, and bone. It is also the grandest remembering a body can do"; Now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS
That this Council does hereby pay tribute to the memory of David J Citino.