The Bud That Stays, poetry, prose and drawings by former WSU biology Professor Laurence Levine recently was published.

Professor Levine retired from Wayne State in 1990 and turned his attention to writing poetry. He had always used language to explain complex biological phenomena in imaginative ways and retirement offered time to concentrate on poetry, his wife Claire said.

The book was compiled by Claire Levine of Bloomfield Hills after Laurence Levine's death and edited by Professor Yates Hafner of the WSU English department. Essays and annotations accompany several of the poems and drawings and photographs add to the personal nature of the book.

A compact disc of Professor Levine reading his poems and speaking about his retirement is included with the book.

The central unifying theme of the book is life - the dynamic living process. Claire Levine said that is what drove Laurence Levine in his science and his art, from the movement of chromosomes and the growing of plants and animals to familial relationships, the passage of man through generations and the crises and events that bring about maturity and evolution.

The book is available at Book Beat in Oak Park, Books Abound in Farmington, Marwil Bookstore in Detroit, and Amazon.com.