Michael Ansara spent many years as an activist and organizer. At a very young age, he was swept up in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. He then became a regional organizer for Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)  and a leader in the effort to end the war in Vietnam. He spent many years as a community organizer. In 2009 he co-founded Mass Poetry (www.masspoetry.org [2] ) and serves on its board. His poems have appeared in numerous literary journals. What Remains, a collection of his poems, was published by Kelsay Books in the summer of 2022. His essays have appeared in Vox, Solstice, Cognoscenti, and Arrowsmith. His memoir, The Hard Work of Hope,  is being published by Cornell University Press.