
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, October 14, 1994                   TAG: 9410150032
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: NANCY GLEINER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?

Poet Wyn Cooper is enjoying himself a lot more that he ever thought he would when he wrote his poem ``Fun.''

Singer/songwriter Sheryl Crow used the poem as lyrics for her song, ``All I Wanna Do.'' The tune has now soared to the top of the pop charts, and her album including the song has sold 1.5 million copies. She's done a music video and performed it on Jay Leno's and David Letterman's shows.

Meanwhile, Cooper, a 1981 graduate of the Hollins College's master of arts program in English and creative writing, has become famous - unusual for most poets, especially while they're still alive. His book of poetry has gone into its second printing, and he's making ``some money'' from Crow's song.

Cooper, who teaches literature and creative writing at Marlboro College in Vermont, has been approached by Warner Bros. and other record producers about turning more of his poems into songs for other artists.

Wonder if there's going to be a sequel called ``More Fun.''

Ironically, the two guys in the poem, who are lamenting a life reduced to ``drinking beer at noon on Tuesday'' aren't having any fun at all.

by CNB