Midwest Memo
The poet's life
by Alan Shultz

If you live, work or play in the State of Indiana you regularly come into contact with aspects of the generosity of generations of the Eli Lilly family and the company founded by patriarch Eli Lilly. Whereas many of today's rich and famous gather attention for what they spend on themselves, the Lilly family made much of its mark by what they gave and what they continue to give away.

Lilly money makes its way into libraries, community foundations, scholarships, universities, gifts and grants. Lilly generosity somehow finds its way to every county in the Hoosier State - and beyond. Gifts come from the Lilly and Company Foundation incorporated in 1968 and from the Lilly Endowment that goes back to 1937. Over the years gifts have also come from individual family members.

Now word comes from the Chicago Sun-Times that some of the Lilly money has made its way to the Windy City and to the corner of Dearborn and Superior over on the near north side. It is at this corner where The Poetry Foundation has paid $6.7 million dollars for a lovely piece of ground in an area known as the Cathedral District. Shady tree-lined streets, stately row houses and a lovely park can be found in this neighborhood which is just a couple blocks off the Magnificent Mile. Why Oprah's apartment will be in walking distance. Think: location, location, location.

The land purchase by The Poetry Foundation was made possible by a gift from Ruth Lilly, the sole surviving grandchild of Eli Lilly. The money is paid to the poetry group in the form of an annuity which is valued at $175 million dollars. Presumably, that money will also pay the bill for the proposed ecologically friendly glass and steel building the poets have in mind.

One can only imagine the marble selection choices that now face the poets.

Actually, I first heard news of The Poetry Foundation's real estate acquisition on a segment of Chicago Public Radio. The price and location of the lot and the future plans for the building were all discussed. Remarkably, the Lilly name, and specifically Ruth Lilly and her remarkable gift, never were mentioned in the radio piece.

For those familiar with the Newberry Library, the new poetry digs are also in walking distance to that lovely, venerable institution. That's familiar turf for the poets since prior to Ruth Lilly's gift, the entire organization operated in a niche behind book stacks at the Newberry

Money changes everything.

In the movie "Wall Street" about insider trading and greed gone wild, the moral voice played by Hal Holbrook says, "The one thing about money is it makes you do things you don't want to do."

Some years back I served as president of the Indiana Library Trustees Association. At that time the group had applied for a grant from the

Lilly Foundation. It was during

that grant application process I learned that Lilly money is tied directly to stock in the Eli Lilly Corporation. Thus, Lilly gifts emanate from a pool of assets that rise and fall with the value of the company's stock. Total gifts and grants have the potential of being greater in size or number when the stock is high, fewer and less when the stock price is down.

It turns out poets prefer diversified holdings. In 2002 Chicago-based Poetry Foundation and co-trust beneficiary, the Washington D.C.-based America for the Art, sued Ruth Lilly's trustee, National City Bank of Indianapolis. Their claim was that diversification of trust assets would have yielded the non-profits more dollars.

The trial court disagreed. The poets and artists persisted.

The appellate court disagreed. The poets and artists persisted.

The Indiana Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

I don't know much about poetry. But I do recognize poetic justice when I see it.

Here's what Indiana Court of Appeals Judge John Baker told the litigants:

"If you have a gift horse, you keep your mouth shut."

Ah - poetry to my ears.