[New-Poetry] Jim Simmerman

[Anny Ballardini]

I hope I am not sounding silly,
but this is so sad

Anny

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "James Cervantes" <cervantes.james at gmail.com>
To: "NewPoetry: Contemporary Poetry News &amp,Views" 
<new-poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu>
Sent: Saturday, July 01, 2006 7:58 PM
Subject: Re: [New-Poetry] Jim Simmerman


> On 7/1/06, Rsgwynn1 at cs.com <Rsgwynn1 at cs.com> wrote:
>> I just read on another list that Jim Simmerman has died.  I always liked 
>> his
>> poetry.  Jim Cervantes, you knew him, didn't you?
>
> Yes, since the mid-80s.  My daughter and grandkids live in Flagstaff,
> so I'd run into Jim up there quite often, and then professionally as
> part of the poetry & blues group that assembled for festivals and
> bookfairs.
>
> I think this had been coming for a good while.  Last year, for the
> first time ever, Jim declined participating in our poetry & blues
> group at the Flagstaff festival and other events.  Then, he'd had two
> hip replacements and was facing yet another surgery.  He also stopped
> responding to e-mails. I wrote to him not long after the AWP in
> Austin, asking why he hadn't been there - he would have loved the
> "music capital" of Texas.
>
> And, I've heard from a friend in Flagstaff that he'd recently broken
> up with a girlfriend in Tucson. Now, I've heard from my daughter in
> Flagstaff that he'd recently re-written his will, bought a gun, and
> gave away his dog, Bandit.  Clearly, he'd hit bottom and had his mind
> made up.  What a stark contrast to the guy with a great sense of
> humor, a great love for poetry, and a friend to many.
>
>
> -- Jim
>
> ~ Salt River Review:  http://www.poetserv.org
> ~ http://www.hamiltonstone.org/catalog.html#temporarymeaning
> ~ http://www.poetserv.net/jvchome/index.html
> ~ http://home.earthlink.net/~jvcervantes/