Walt Whitman and His Poetry Walt Whitman, a famous American poet, was born on May 31, 1819 in the West Hills of Long Island, New York. His mother's name was Loisia Van Velsor, of Dutch descent., and amazingly could not read very well, if at all. His dad was an English carpenter who probably could not read his son's poetry. His parent's family consisted of nine children, four of whom had disabilities. His start in literature came when, at the age of 12, he was withdrawn from school to work as a printer. At this time he began to learn to love reading books. He read whenever he could and was self taught. When he was seve