b'l a u d s f o r l o r e t t aHow can we laud her? Let me count the ways.Her ready smile, serene attentive gaze,Her hostess role on both sides of the ocean,Her work for peace when the land was in commotion.Philanthropy, unstinted, open-handed,13 14Requests for help from every quarter granted,Benefactor, with her mighty spouse,Of galleries, colleges and Ireland House.That edifice off 1 Fifth Avenue Fit monument to herself and Lew Is like a small translated Clonmacnoise,An amplifier for the native voice15 16 Of Irish writing, culture, scholarship,17 18An answer given to the famine ship,A feis, a court of poetry, a seisin,Academy and legacy, a boon.Twenty years ago, a kilted piper,The Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, at his heel,Led a starry crowd across the Square:Jay Oliva, James Galway, Brian Friel,Loretta, Lew himself, the whole aosdna,19 20With supporting cast, OShea, Cusack, OHara.That April day, a mark was made in timeAs we processed in step like words in rhyme,As dchas met diaspora and combinedIndomitable Irishry of mindWith the Big Apple of Knowledge: thus we set aCrown upon the labours of Loretta21 And great Lew, while Cathleen ni HoulihanLooked down upon this Lass of AllentownAnd recognized her as an aisling geal,A presence, guardian spirit, and a pal.She is foremost of those that I would hear praisedSaid Yeats of Maud, but for us LBGIs she to whom all glasses must be raised,22So rise up now and toast our honouree. Seamus Heaney 1995 Nobel Laureate in Literature at the 20th Anniversary of Glucksman Ireland House, February 2013connect2013 | 15'