Lee Herrick is California’s newly minted Poet Laureate. The former Fresno Poet Laureate, he also teaches at Fresno City College and the University of Nevada, Reno. He is the author of three noteworthy collections of poetry, “Scar and Flower,” Gardening Secrets of the Dead” and “This Many Miles From Desire.” Born in South Korea, Herrick discusses his upbringing in Danville and Fresno, his appreciation and love of language, and the role of poetry as a tool for transformation, empowerment, understanding racial division and seeing both the light and dark of the human condition.