If a Million People Love You

[Belle]

Who wrote this? Anyone know?

quote:

If a million people love you,

I will be among them.

If only a thousand people love you,

I'll be one amongst a thousand.

If one hundred people love you,

I will be the who cries for you.

If only two people love you,

I'll be the one by your side.

But if no one on earth is left to love you,

You will know that I have died.

I need proof of the author and the date, if possible. I have a TWIt who insists vee pee wrote it and I can't find authorship. I need a better Google-er than I am to help me. :)-->

[oldiesman]

Terrell Yarbrough

[Belle]

I'm pretty sure the poem is older than 1980 and that that Terrell on death row didn't write it. That's what it looks like that site is saying....am I reading it wrong?

[Ham]

I heard vic quote it in the seventies. Maybe this guy is an ex wayfer or something.. who knows.

[oldiesman]

I'm sure you're right Belle.

[Belle]

Right that he didn't write it or right that I'm reading it wrong? :)-->

I'm sure vee pee didn't author it, but can't find who did.

[oldiesman]

Right that VP and Terrell didn't author it.

I'd be willing to bet a few bucks that the author is anonymous.

[Watered Garden]

Belle,

There was a little book published in the late 70's to early 80's that was a collection of VPW's favorite poems. I am not at all sure I can find it, but will look around sometime this week. That poem was on the last page, and I always thought he wrote it himself.

I'll try to find it tonight.

WG

[mzimagine]

I think Dr. Wierwille either wrote it or adapted it.

That is my private interpretation.

But I think I am right.

[bliss]

Got the book right in front of me!!

It's from Album of Verse

Author of If a Million People Love You

-Victor Paul Wierwille

could it be another plagery?

[bliss]

The last verse says

"But God is still alive."

Could that be the "extra" that gave him authorship?

[bliss]

Date on the whole book 1984. Eludes to being written most recently in that chapter.

[moony3424]

I still got the same book in front of me. It sure does say he wrote it. Maybe VP was reincarnated as Terrell Yarbrough. After all, Terrell is in Ohio. He even uses the last line of "But God is still alive." The only difference is TY uses "!" after alive; whereas, VPW uses "." -->

[coolchef1248 @adelphia.net]

i don't think veepee wrote anything and surly not that

[Belle]

I've been scouring the web and the only references I can find to this poem are not attributed to anyone or they are attributed to Terrell Yarbrough aka Michael Poole, a death row inmate in OH.

quote:

At 5 a.m. on Memorial Day 1999, Aaron Land and Brian Muha, two students at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, were pistol-whipped awake by intruders and abducted from the house they shared with a third roommate, Andrew Doran. Startled out of a sound sleep by noises he couldn't identify and a confused feeling that something was wrong, Doran managed to slip away and call the police. When they arrived, Land and Muha were gone.

I just seriously doubt that vee pee would write anything like that and that album of verse is mostly full of "anonymous" poems or poems written by others, if my memory is correct. It just doesn't seem right....

[ChasUFarley]

It's hard to run a Google or Dogpile on this because it's written in 3rd grade level language. It worse than anything you'd find on any sappy Hallmark card - so sicky sweet my teeth are rotting as I read it.

It's so elementary - why couldn't VPW have written this? I mean, he had a PhD, right? After 8 years or whatever of school he should be able to produce a 5 stanza poem - even if each stanza is 6 words and has just two lines.

C'mon - give him some credit, will ya?

[Nottawayfer]

quote:

It worse than anything you'd find on any sappy Hallmark card - so sicky sweet my teeth are rotting as I read it.

ROFLMAO!!!!

[Radar OReilly]

There is a corps grad....I think she was 6th corps named Jane Muha........does anyone think there may be a connection?

ror

[WordWolf]

With the exception of the last line, this is

an old poem. I did a search on it once before,

let's see what I find now....

[laleo]

Belle: This is the best I could come up with. Couldn't find out much about this "poet," but his style is strikingly similar to Wierwille's, wouldn't you say?

quote:

http://www.geocities.com/lilbevykitty/1000ppl.html

"If You Hear that a Thousand People Love You"

by Guadalupe de Saavedra (1973)

If you hear that a thousand people love you

remember...saavedra is among them.

If you hear that a hundred people love you

remember...saavedra is either in the first

or very last row

If you hear that seven people love you

remember...saavedra is among them,

like a wednesday in the middle of the week

If you hear that two people love you

remember...one of them is saavedra

If you hear that only one person loves you

remember...he is saavedra

AND when you see no one else around you,

and you find out

that no one loves you anymore,

then you will know for certain

that...saavedra is dead

[WordWolf]

Hm.

I don't see it now, but I'd traced it to earlier

in the century, and a possible name, but I don't see it now.

That the poem existed before the convict was born, I think, is

beyond question. I have found it nicely ironic that someone who

plagiarized a poem sits in prison-the ethics are paired up with

the results, that's consistent. Plagiarists belong in jail. :)-->

Lots of people who've never heard of twi have heard of this poem,

but I'm not sure when that last line was ADDED.

I know it was ADDED because I've SEEN it without that line,

and I've seen it with a different last line ALSO added.

Given that vpw's track record, I don't even think it's viable to

consider him the author. Further, he always kept "his" work close

to his vest. The poem has had various iterations thru the decades.

He would NEVER have let it get away from him. More likely he caught

one version and either added the last line, or caught it WITH that

last line. If we knew where the convict got it, this would help us

track it.

[Belle]

Plagarizing the plagarizer....funny irony. That he's in jail is rather apropo, no? ;)-->

Laleo, WILD! Thank you!! This site credits him with it back in 1973

Guadalupe de Saavedra

I guess I can't exactly prove he didn't write it, but it also can't be proven that he DID write it. :)-->

[Oakspear]

Wierwille couldn't even read a poem and get the meter right, and we were supposed to believe he wrote one? :P-->

[Belle]

Dunno, Radar. I found his mother's name is Rachel and he had a little brother named Chris. Both have said that they forgive Terrell for killing Brian.

http://www.journeyofhope.org/old_site/a_mother.htm

[Kit Sober]

My thoughts about this dusted off from the 70's/80's:

Our job is to love one another, not keep tally of our fan club.

There are lots of people left to love you (I know I am one).

I thought then and still do: It's a self-centered poem that not only does not include the Lord in any equation, but promotes a mind-set that keeps Him out of the picture.

Of course no once would listen to me back then.

Thanks, again, Pawtucket, for giving us a forum to air pent-up thoughts.

Kit:)-->