There's an interesting link between Pittsburgh and the wealthy, yet troubled Chicago-based Poetry Foundation. The chain starts in Oakland with Stephen Foster.

He's one of the treasured native sons of Pittsburgh for his contributions to the American songbook.

We proudly point to the Foster Memorial on the grounds of the Cathedral of Learning and the prestigious Center for American Music headquartered there as proof of the city's reverence for the songwriter, often overlooking that it was an Indiana philanthropist who saved Foster's legacy and funded his memorial.

Josiah Lilly, heir to the drug company founded by his father Eli in Indianapolis, donated his library of Foster materials to the University of Pittsburgh in the 1930s and helped fund the memorial, which opened in 1937. The Lillys contributed about $250,000 to the building's $550,000 cost.

His gifts preserved the important archive, created a unique structure in Oakland and brought Fletcher and Margaret Hodges to Pittsburgh. He was the memorial's original director and she went on to write dozens of popular children's books.

Lilly passed down his philanthropic instincts to his granddaughter, Ruth, whose interest was poetry.

While it's estimated that she donated more than $800 million to worthy causes, it is her $100 million gift to the modest Poetry magazine of Chicago in 2002 that touched off a controversy that has taken an ugly turn.

With meager resources, the magazine still managed to publish many of America's major poets since it was started in 1912, operating in donated office space at a library.

Miss Lilly gave the millions even though the magazine rejected several of her poems. The $100 million has now grown to $200 million.

The Lilly gift catapulted it into the foremost position in poetry and it quickly abandoned its humble digs for prime real estate on North Michigan Avenue.

Miss Lilly died last month at 94, too ill to follow the discord and dismay that her generous donation caused. The Poetry Foundation, established to handle the millions, is now wracked by dissension and departures of its trustees, losing more than half of its members recently.

Of course, it's the money that's at the root of the trouble. Dissident trustees charge the foundation's president John Barr with mismanagement of the money. The Illinois attorney general is looking into the charges and so far, has yet to find any violations of the state's nonprofit regulations.

Through a spokesman, Barr, a poet and investment banker, denies the charges and soldiers on with plans to build a "Home for Poetry" west of the Loop estimated to cost $25 million.

Several former trustees complained to the Chicago Tribune about Barr's spending and management style, terming it authoritarian and threatening to critics on the board. The foundation denied the claims.

Also at issue are the spending of $1 million to set up a web site (www.poetryfoundation.org) and $750,000 for a survey on the role of poetry in American life. The poll followed a speech by Barr in which he urged poets to break out of academia and experience the "real world" in order to reach wider audiences.

For its part, the Poetry Foundation operates a variety of programs including the publication of the esteemed magazine, programs of poetry readings and related events in Chicago, cosponsorship with the National Endowment for the Arts of the Poetry Out Loud competition for high school students and poetry-themed contests with cash prizes.

Nobody misses the irony here, especially for Pittsburgh where the International Poetry Forum ended last year after 33 years due to lack of funds. If the Poetry Foundation can overcome this controversy and spend wisely, its Ruth Lilly gift could lead to a new era in American poetry.

If not, it could wind up like the Chicago Cubs -- big payroll, but perennial also-rans.

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