[New-Poetry] Jim Simmerman

[Joseph Duemer]

Ms. Byrkit informs me by email that she has known Jim for 27 years. She
disputes my version of the facts presented above & in my blog post. She
urges me to "be cool," which strikes me as fatuous advice, frankly.
Especially since she suggested that I was contributing to an overflow of
rumors about Jim. Clearly, she wants very badly to own the narrative.

On 7/4/06, Joseph Duemer <duemer at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Rebecca Byrkit just posted the folloing on my weblog:
>
> <<Friends,
>
> Small stuff, but Jim simmerman did not give away his dog Bandit—she died
> four months ago. Also he did not, as Joseph D. says, "suffer from arthritis
> his entire life" but rather for about seven years'. Not crucial, but James
> (Jay, executor of Jim's estate and the person who found Jim) and I are
> sensitive to accuracy at this crucial point, and the rumors are already
> overflowering—
> Thanks and more soon! may I quote Jim's and James' kind words about Jim in
> my article with the Sun?>>
>
> I would simply like to say, as someone who knew Jim much longer than Ms.
> Byrkit, that Jim's arthritis was long-standing. He quit doing karate in grad
> school because of it. If Ms. Byrkit is interested in accuracy, as she says,
> she will not discount as "rumor" the testimony of a friend of long-standing.
> Whatever other rumors may be "overflowing" Jim's physical pain for many
> years is something that many of his old friends will attest to. Whether that
> pain contributed to his suicide is anyone's guess, but the fact of that pain
> should not be in dispute. So is it "small stuff" or a "crucial point"?
> Frankly, I resent this attempt to take control of the narrative, especially
> since there can be no reason other than selfishness to do so.
>
>
> On 7/2/06, Joseph Duemer <duemer at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > 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.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> >
> > New-Poetry mailing list
> > New-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu
> > http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/new-poetry
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Joseph Duemer
> > Professor of Humanities
> > Clarkson University
> > [chujoe.net]
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Joseph Duemer
> Professor of Humanities
> Clarkson University
> [chujoe.net]
>



-- 
Joseph Duemer
Professor of Humanities
Clarkson University
[chujoe.net]
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/pipermail/new-poetry/attachments/20060704/63dfab6c/attachment-0001.html