Lingering Love

Samuel Abraham Brenner was born in Chicago in 1917 and moved to New York City when he was 2 years old. Shortly therafter, his parents divorced and he became a ward of the City of New York, living in the Hebrew Orphan Asylum and being shuttled between countless foster homes for the rest of his childhood years. In his teenage years, he lived with his father and stepmother, and was intermittently taken away by his birth mother to live with her until the authorities would invariably catch up with them and take him back. His upbringing set him on a path of longing and being accustomed to deprivation, and to having loved ones taken from him. This theme of longing permeates the poetry he has been writing since the age of 15 that is compiled in his book "Lingering Love". But then he met his future wife, Lillian. They were exceedingly enamored with each other, and had similar likes in poetry and music, among other joys. Lillian is the inspiration for the beautiful romance poems in "Lingering Love", which set the stage for uplifting poems extolling the wonderous beauty of nature that are also a prominent component of "Lingering Love". Another aspect of Sam Brenner's poetry mingles longing with political activism, to provoke his readers to strive for a more humane world, and to never forget atrocities like the Holocaust, which is powerfully depicted in his poem " Count to Six Million". This riveting poem has been included in the US Congressional Record, and immortalized in a video of the author reciting this poem that has been viewed by synagogues across the United States. The Honorable Sam Brenner is Poet Laureate and Past Mayor of Surfside, Florida, and Past President of the Greater Miami Chapter of the World Federalists Association. He has resided in South Florida for more than sixty years, with Lillian, his wife of sixty-six years. The author has 2 children, Bard and Leona, and 2 grandchildren, Robert and Stephanie.