Blog: New Documentary About 3-Time Pulitzer Prize Winning Writer Carl Sandburg Airs Monday

Who hasn't heard the name Carl Sandburg, yet how many of us know all his many accomplishments? Don't miss this new PBS' special American Masters: The Day Carl Sandburg Died to learn more about this American icon. It airs Monday on PBS at 10 p.m. (check local listings). 

For much of the 20th century, Carl Sandburg (1/6/1878 - 7/22/1967) was synonymous with the American experience, a spokesman on behalf of "the people." One of the most successful writers in the English language, Sandburg was a three-time Pulitzer Prize-winner for his poetry (Cornhuskers, 1918 and Complete Poems, 1950) and part of his six-volume Lincoln biography (Abraham Lincoln: The War Years, 1939).

He was also a groundbreaking journalist, folk song collector, children's storyteller, political organizer/activist, novelist, autobiographer and captivating performer. Yet, after his death, Sandburg's literary legacy faded and his poems, once taught in schools across America, were dismissed under the weight of massive critical attack.

The new 90-minute documentary American Masters The Day Carl Sandburg Died, premiering nationally Monday, September 24 at 10 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings) to commemorate the 45th anniversary of his death, provides a dynamic examination of Sandburg's life, work and controversial legacy from a modern perspective. The film will be available on DVD September 25 through PBS Distribution.

Filmmaker Paul Bonesteel exposes Sandburg's radical politics and anarchist writing during World War I as well as the current burgeoning resurgence of interest in him and his contributions. Drawing on archival footage and photographs, American Masters The Day Carl Sandburg Died features spoken word performances, songbook selections, readings, and original interviews.

Sandburg's daughter Helga Sandburg Crile, his grandson John Carl Steichen, Pete Seeger, the late Studs Terkel and Norman Corwin, poets including Ted Kooser, Marc Kelly Smith and Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Grammy-winning musician Dan Zanes, Sandburg biographer Penelope Niven, and notable scholars share stories about Sandburg and reflect on the modern relevance of his vast body of work, including Chicago Poems (1916), The American Songbag (1927) and The People, Yes (1936).

Self-proclaimed "The Eternal Hobo," Sandburg used his unique life as the basis for his radical free-verse poetry: from impoverished beginnings on the Illinois prairie to the halls of Congress to The Ed Sullivan Show. Entertaining audiences on stage, radio and television with his performances, Sandburg enjoyed the kind of fame, fortune and recognition that is rarely, if ever, afforded a poet.

Sandi Berg is also a freelance journalist and writes about television for several magazines including Written By (Writer's Guild of America), Life After 50 and Whole Life Times Magazine.