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Theodore Roethke (1908-1963) was a Pulitzer Prize winning American poet who was born and raised in Saginaw, a small town located in central Michigan. His father owned a house, a floral company, and extensive greenhouses where the poet spent his…

Roethke was very close to his younger sister, June.

Located at 1805 Gratiot Ave, Saginaw, MI 48602, this modest house in which Roethke grew up, has been the setting of many his celebrated poems including My Papa's Waltz. The house is now a historic site and a museum.

Written by Jeff Vande Zande, American Poet (2012) is a novel set in Saginaw, Michigan, Theodore Roethke's hometown. The protagonist is a young man and poet who discovers the Roethke house, his own family, his poetic voice.

A photograph of Ted's parents, Otto and Helen Roethke.

The poet's baby photo.

Ted and Beatrice, his wife. Beatrice is in her nineties now and lives in England.

This back porch on the second floor of his house is where the magic happened! This is where Roethke wrote some of his poems looking at his family greenhouses.

And this what made the magic! One of his father's greenhouses. His father Otto and uncle Karl, who lived next door, owned the greenhouses and owned a floral company. Ted and June grew up in such beautiful surroundings.