"Relocation": and Other Poems by r. y. takagi Paperback - 2013

Robert Yasuo Takagi (1928-2010) was born in San Diego, California, the fourth of five children. During World War II, he and his family were "relocated" and interned in Poston, Arizona. Following his older brothers' bold move, he left camp (which was allowed only if one moved away from the coast) and moved to Chicago. A short time later he joined the army. While was stationed in Italy, Ernest Hemingway befriended r. y. takagi; this sparked in him a lifelong passion for literature. After his military service, r. y. takagi returned to Chicago. He studied music and art and even sang in a chorus with the Chicago Symphony under the direction of Leonard Bernstein. r. y. takagi moved back to California and in 1955 married dancer and choreographer Valentina Oumansky, with whom he had one daughter, Tarumi. r. y. takagi spent years editing news and film, and his career as a music editor in the motion picture industry spanned over four decades, with a list of credits that include popular TV series like Hawaii 5-0, Gunsmoke, and The Twilight Zone. In the last twenty-five years of his life he went back to a passion of his youth, writing haiku poems. This had interested him since a life-changing meeting with Nyogen Senzaki, a Buddhist monk, back in the 1950s. r. y. takagi had an uncanny sense of humor; enjoyed golfing, hunting, and fishing; and he especially loved contemplating on his porch in solitude, stogy in his mouth, composing poetry.