Entry 001: Peter Yearwood

Date of Entry: Oct 15, 2021
Location: Coler Rehabilitation and Nursing Care Center
Interviewer: Thom Heyer

Contracting polio as an infant in his home country, Belize, Pete has lived with a disability all his life. In 1970, he emigrated to Brooklyn and met the mother of his children. After that relationship ended Pete got into the street life, using and selling drugs. In 2015, many years sober, he moved into Coler Rehabilitation and Nursing Care Center, where he met his OPEN DOORS brothers, aka the Reality Poets. He is both a member and manager of the artist collective. Pete played the role of narrator in the original play FADE, based on the Reality Poets’ true stories. FADE premiered at the Main Street Theatre on Roosevelt Island in 2019. Pete’s poetry has been published in multiple literary journals. He has led poetry workshops for youth and people with disabilities. He is an associate producer of the forthcoming documentary Fire Through Dry Grass. In the film, Pete also serves as a local guide of Roosevelt Island, citing its troubled past while highlighting the beauty he gets to experience in the present.