A Duke and the Geordie king

IT WAS a proud day for Malcolm Dix when he sat next to the Duke of Edinburgh under the chandeliers of Newcastle's Civic Centre for a presentation to Wor Jackie Milburn.

Castle said River Forum's inviting atmosphere has helped draw tenants to the property, and persuade them to stay. A full-service exercise facility, free to tenants, is on-site.The Willamette Greenway, a pathway that runs adjacent to the Willamette River, winds through downtown and directly behind the River Forum buildings. It adds a park-like feel to the office complex, which is home to insurance companies, lawyers and the River Forum Cafe."Still there is a lot to pray to on earth" one poem asserts. "Im having a good time humming along to everything I can still / remember back there" another says. Dickmans poems carry their dark subjects lightly. The poems hold themselves back; they are the audience to a Hollywood movie. Yet the movie is true a real childhood the Old West still alive in the speaker. The mother is all ages; she is Annie Oakley and Dale Evans living in the California life she chose where children ride ponies and wear little boots and little holsters. And the speakers childhood friends are waiting in the old neighborhood "shooting heroin / getting blind and / calling // my name." The book ends with the brilliant long title poem a coda in which "Heaven is what you think it will be." Throughout Dickman creates this heaven but finally also reminds us of whats missing: "the whisper / of bodies // Trees / Water / Light // We wont do this again." This is the real thing this immediate world that is no ideal world. Indeed who would dare end a book this way the neighborhood guys whispering from the corner "You had this shit coming. Youre going to be sorry"? But were not. The readers are not sorry at all. (April)"Jackie's wife Laura didn't want him to come to the dinner because he wasn't too well. Sadly, six or seven months later Jackie died."Eric Castle, leasing manager for River Forum, said the 24-year- old development presents an attractive alternative to downtown sites."A hand reached down, got hold of me, and pulled me back up," revealed Dix."Of course, we said yes and he delivered a great speech for about quarter of an hour, rattling on about what a great area the North East was and how there were black and white stripes in his coat of arms."That's all the Duke was supposed to do, but he had a word with me and asked if he could speak."HRH came to our annual dinner in 1987 when he was to present the Wilkinson Sword to Wor Jackie," Malcolm told me.River Forum is one of three developments Shorenstein owns in Johns Landing; the others are Riverside Centre and the 5550 Macadam building. The company bought the buildings in 2008 with the belief that Johns Landing was the city's second-best submarket.

HERO: Jackie Milburn receives the Wilkinson Sword from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh