Dannye Gibson Powell

October 10, 2024

Dannye Gibson Powell, eclectic journalist, acclaimed poet and all-embracing matriarch, died Thursday, October 10, 2024 at her longtime home in Dilworth. She had lung cancer. She was 83.

Over four decades at the Charlotte Observer, Dannye Romine Powell -- her byline -- was book editor, restaurant critic and local-front columnist.

Her incisive Q-and-A's with such authors as Walker Percy, Maya Angelou and Eudora Welty were collected in her "Parting the Curtains: Interviews with Southern Writers." She contributed the Charlotte chapter in "John Mariani's Coast to Coast Dining Guide." As local columnist she covered the murder trials of Susan Smith, Michael Peterson and Josh Griffin.

Her predecessor on the local front, the revered Kays Gary, once admitted to an editor that he had underestimated "this woman Romine." "No tricks. No contrivances. No preachments. Just powerful parables about real people.... More than any other one person Dannye reflects the best in a family newspaper."

Despite her overflowing clip file she never considered herself a true "newspaper gal," an admiring designation she bestowed on friends such as Karen Garloch and Pam Kelley. "For a while I couldn't walk on that side of the newsroom," she once recalled. "But then [reporter] Ronnie Glassberg told me he liked my hair."

Her first published poem appeared in the Paris Review in 1974, catching the eye of copy desk chief Luisita Lopez and leading to her hiring as book editor. That was her dream job -- everything else she did at the paper she had to be forcefully drafted for. She continued to publish poetry, winning a National Endowment for the Arts grant and residencies at Yaddo and the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, which had turned down as too modest her application to wait tables.

“At Every Wedding Someone Stays Home” received the Miller Williams First Book Award from the University of Arkansas Press. She twice won the annual Brockman-Campbell Award for best book of poetry published by a North Carolinian.

She greatly valued both her weekly poetry critique group and the classes she taught at Charlotte Lit and around her dining room table. Her approach was concise: "First you sweeten them up, then you swat them around." She was once overheard to direct, "Don't ever bring another exclamation point into this house!"

Dannye was a Miami native, but her heart belonged to Social Circle, Ga., her mother's hometown. Friends knew her gift for skillful indirection, rooted in the ways of the small-town South, as "Social Circle talk."

She leaves her never bored husband of 45 years, Lew Powell; sons Benjamin Houston "Hugh" Romine III and Daniel Patrick Romine, both of Charlotte; granddaughters Veronica Taylor Kathleen Romine Haviland of Summerville, S.C., and her husband Cory and Ashley Marie Birle of Clover, S.C., and grandson Benjamin Houston "Townes" Romine IV of Charlotte; and great-granddaughters Rylie Mae Haviland, Cooper Faith Haviland and Charlee Grace Haviland, all of Summerville.

She was deeply grateful for the end-of-life counsel and advocacy of Alyssa Romine and Dr. Gloria Tsan.

Funeral services will be at Myers Park Baptist Church at 1 p.m. Thursday, October 17, 2024.

Memorials in Dannye's name may be made to Crisis Assistance Ministry, 500-A Spratt St., Charlotte NC 28206 or to Charlotte Center for Literary Arts, PO Box 18607, Charlotte NC 28218.

Arrangements are in the care of Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service, 1321 Berkeley Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28204 (704) 641-7606. Online condolences can be shared at www.kennethpoeservices.com.

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  • Alex

    I am an attorney and when I was in law school I bought a book of Dannye's poetry--somehow one of her poetry books ended up in my law school's bookstore. Looking to read anything other than law books, I bought it. I remember first reading "The Other Life" and loving that poem. Then I read another one. Loved it. And so on. I moved to St. Louis after law school and kept going back to her poetry. One day on a whim I decided to write her a letter letting her know how much I enjoyed her poetry because I just couldn't get it out of my head. I worked at a big law firm in downtown St. Louis at the time and I remember putting my letter on the law firm letterhead because I was worried that she would think I was some sort of crazy guy/fanatic. So, I wrote this formal letter telling her the particular poems that I really enjoyed and why I enjoyed them. Then I sent my letter off and never expected to get a response. I think it was within the week that I got a response. Dannye wrote me back and said that the very day that she got my appreciative letter that she got a letter from a publisher rejecting her latest poetry. This began a decades-long friendship where we wrote letters back and forth to each other and, of course, I have all of her letters that she wrote to me over the years. I was the attorney in Oakland, California that Lew mentioned in his speech at her funeral. I was working on two projects to honor Dannye: create bronze plaques of her poetry to be installed in public places (get her poetry out of books and into public spaces so everyone can see it) and was also working on setting her poetry to music (using baritones and sopranos). I regret that I wasn't able to finish both of my projects before she died, but at least she knew that I was working on these two projects. I'll really miss her and I regret that I never traveled to meet her in person. She really was special and I remember writing back to her (my second letter to her) and told her to never stop writing no matter how many rejection letters she got. For me, this poem started it all for me and by attempting to "remember the exact dimensions of longing," she allowed herself to explore the what-ifs of paths not taken. I think to myself right now "what if" I listened to that initial fear of writing that first letter? I would have missed out on so much.

    The Other Life

    The one by the ocean, upstairs room with a view,
    second row, an outside wooden stair...
    I could have chosen that one,
    climbing each night after work,
    as a waitress maybe or clerk,
    gauzy skirt whispering
    at my ankle. Inside, one lamp
    left burning, I settle cross-legged
    on the bed, emptying quarters
    into silvery pools, rolling them
    into rounds of fives for the rent,
    tens for the train trip to Arizona
    next winter. Before supper,
    filling the tub as the curtain drifts out
    over the TV, revealing stars,
    scattering last night's ashes.
    Instead, I live inland
    in the yellow house on the corner
    across from the park. That's where
    I am now, in the white chair
    by the upstairs window,
    pin oaks splashing the panes.
    Don't misunderstand. I'm here by consent.
    I was simply trying to remember
    the exact dimensions of longing.

    --Dannye Romine Powell

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  • Suzie Rape

    I was blessed to meet Dannye when I was 18, fresh out of high school, a writer at heart & so excited to be working in the newsroom , in the middle of everything! Dannye let me do book reviews, then album reviews. I was thrilled to see my name in a by-line.

    I worked at the Metro Desk for 3 yrs and Danny, Lew, and many others were so kind to me.I learned quite a bit about writing from her.

    Danny fanned the flame of my desire & love for writing & was very encouraging to me. She was a fantastic woman; smart, funny, an encorager & an obviously, an accomplished writer. She along with the other reporters at The Observer from 74-77, have a special place in my heart. Condolences to Lew & the family . Her memory will be eternal.

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  • Pat Borden Gubbins

    Working with Dannye was a joy. Gifted with her friendship from the time she arrived at the Observer to my last visit at their home was truly a blessing. She was always more interested in what you were doing than talking about herself. She loved the children she has helped raise and flourish, side by side with Lew, and never stopped pushing herself to create new works. Losing her is a blow to all who knew her. But I like to think she will live on in the poetic works she helped inspire in those she taught.

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  • Ron Alridge

    Dannye and I once shared a computer terminal in the newsroom of the Charlotte Observer and it was a wonderful experience. She was a delightful neighbor with a wonderful sense of humor. I adored her. I will miss her forever.






















































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  • Lindsay W Daniel

    Such a unique and wonderful woman!!!! And what joy she brought to us all. This sweetie will be missed by this community. Loved helping make her home more delightful - just like her.

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  • Bonnie Soniat

    Dannye Powell was an astute and vivid poet, and recorded her life in poetry as only she could: to the fullest. Her life was lived to the fullest, and anyone who knew her was well aware of her Great Love of The Written Word in its many forms. We will miss her so very much. May her Spirit always Fly High, as I know she is doing now.

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  • Andrea Monroe Weaver

    I was among a handful of college interns at the Charlotte Observer in the summer of 1990, and Dannye graciously agreed to mentor me. The writing and professional life lessons I learned from her that summer set me up for a short career in journalism and a long one in public relations and executive communications. I learned about the cadence of words from Dannye, a useful skill in a speechwriter. Her kindness then inspired me to mentor many interns and young professionals in later years. Her spirit will always live on in her words and her deeds.

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  • Mary Alice Dixon

    Dannye, Dannye, Dannye, your presence was a gift. Your radiance shines forever in the lives you touched and in the words your wrote. I bet by now you're dashing around heaven in a red silk scarf sending adjectives to the devil and dancing with angels. My dear friend and writing teacher, thank you for being you.

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  • Jeanne Milam Mitchell

    Oh how I will miss our talks and friendship which started in 6th grade and continued thru Miami High, FSU as roommates, each others weddings - the first ones for us - and up until our too short visit in August during my last trip to NC. In her first books of poetry, I knew she was telling about things we did or said or past relationships we went through long ago as BFF’s. I loved her like a sister and she will forever leave a BIG hole in my heart. All my love to you Lew, Hugh, Patrick and her dearly loved grandchildren.

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  • Betsy Matthews

    To Hugh and Patrick: We have such good memories of our times together with your family when we were all so young! Our social interactions were enjoyable because of the compatibility of both the kids and the parents. Highlights were the beach vacations and meeting all the grandparents. Over time our lives took different directions as you kids grew up and the parents careers changed but the fine memories remain. Both your parents are remarkable and talented people. Dannye and I were close friends and I especially appreciated how gracious she was every time I ran into her….at the Fresh Market, Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. She also visited me at my shop, B Natural so we kept up on family news. She is definitely an UNFORGETTABLE person.
    With fond memories of good times spent together,
    Betsy, Jim, Chris, & Meredith Matthews

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