Michael S. Harper has been played on NTS shows including Coltrane Day, with Dear John, Dear Coltrane first played on 23 September 2023.

Michael Steven Harper (March 18, 1938 – May 7, 2016) was an American poet from Brooklyn, who was the Poet Laureate of Rhode Island from 1988 to 1993. He published ten books of poetry, two of which - Dear John, Dear Coltrane (1970) and Images of Kin (1977) - have been nominated for the National Book Award. A great deal of his poetry is influenced by jazz and history. Many of his poems have been included as important examples of African-American literature…