[New-Poetry] Jim Simmerman

[Joseph Duemer]

When Jim & I worked together on Dog Music, we gave the profits to our two
local animal shelters. Maybe those organizing the memorial would like to
suggest donations to the Flagstaff animal shelter or some other organization
& provide contact information. Just a thought.

Here is what I wrote about Jim just now on my blog:

I heard last night that my old grad school mate & *Dog
Music*<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312151136/sr=8-2/qid=1151858430/ref=sr_1_2/103-7703198-0663062?ie=UTF8>collaborator
Jim
Simmerman<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/192991864X/sr=8-1/qid=1151858430/ref=sr_1_1/103-7703198-0663062?ie=UTF8>has
taken his own life. Jim had suffered all his life from debilitating
arthritis & given that he was a natural athlete, he was constantly in pain.
Though we worked together on an extended project, Jim & I were not
particularly close, but I feel his loss acutely nevertheless. Jim was among
the most honorable & honest people I have known—any dishonesty, no matter
how small, deeply offended him, which could make him severe. His severity,
though, was always in defense of the good & the honorable. This attitude is
one of the things that made him a strong & effective member of the AWP
Board—I know because I served on that board shortly after Jim left it. We
are always shocked by suicide, but one thing I know about Jim is that even
this most radical & final act would have been taken in a state of
existential awareness. I know that he lived as long as he could. There was a
big storm here last night that broke shortly after I learned of Jim's death
& I will let that mark his death in my memory.



On 7/1/06, Rsgwynn1 at cs.com <Rsgwynn1 at cs.com> wrote:
>
> In a message dated 7/1/2006 9:07:41 PM Central Standard Time,
> duemer at gmail.com writes:
>
> I just heard about this. Jim &I were at Iowa together in the late 70s,
> then worked together on Dog Music a decade later. I just don't know what to
> say right now.
>
> Joe
>
>
>
> I'm sorry, Joe.  Jim Cervantes has some details.
>
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>
>


-- 
Joseph Duemer
Professor of Humanities
Clarkson University
[chujoe.net]
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