{"id":22773,"date":"2006-07-06T15:41:47","date_gmt":"2006-07-06T22:41:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stage.headlessnauedu-b6hgdzckfdgxgzhe.westus-01.azurewebsites.net\/?p=22773"},"modified":"2015-08-17T15:08:14","modified_gmt":"2015-08-17T22:08:14","slug":"poet-jim-simmerman-regents-professor-dies-at-54","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/poet-jim-simmerman-regents-professor-dies-at-54\/","title":{"rendered":"Poet Jim Simmerman, Regents’ Professor, dies at 54"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jim Simmerman, who spent nearly half his life as an English professor at Northern Arizona University and gained national fame for his poetry, died last week in his Flagstaff home. He was 54.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Jim was a conscientious instructor and a gifted wordsmith whose publishing career was still at full stride,” said\u00a0Marty Sommerness<\/strong>, School of Communication professor and long-time friend and colleague. “For those who truly care about what happens in our Mountain Campus classrooms, Jim and his dedication will both be sorely missed.”<\/p>\n

Professor Simmerman, named a Regents’ Professor in 2003, was born in Boulder, Colo., on March 5, 1952.<\/p>\n

He came to NAU as an instructor in 1978-79 and returned in 1981 after earning a master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Iowa. He also has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia.<\/p>\n

The son of a career Air Force sergeant, Professor Simmerman grew up in Colorado, Arkansas, Alabama, Missouri, Massachusetts and England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
Take It Back<\/div>\n

Maybe it’s different
\nwith you.
\nHow I grew up
\nthere was always some kid
\nbigger than me, some lug,
\nsome stupe, some Ronnie Boone
\nwith fuzz over his lip
\nand those muscles you get
\nsqueezing tennis balls,
\nskulking on the playground
\nbefore homeroom or glued
\nbehind some trees somewhere
\nI have to pass alone
\nand-boom-he’s on my chest
\nlike a stump,
\nslapping me daffy, his knees gouging
\ngopher holes in my arms
\nas he croons\u00a0take it back<\/em>,
\nso soft and close and sweet
\nhe could be telling me
\na secret or kissing me on the mouth,\u00a0take it back
\nif you know what’s good for you<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Some things I did I didn’t
\ntake back. I could
\nsay one, embarrass us for all time. Then you
\ncould take your turn, then
\nsomebody else, until
\nthe bullies inside us
\nget bored and go home;
\ntill we’re each of us smack
\non his back by himself
\nin the same stupid life,
\nand we do it again-
\nthe whole thing pathetic
\nas a push-and-go-round
\nwhere I stick to my guns,
\nand stew, and spin-the same
\ntune repeating itself,
\nthe same verse, the opus
\nof Ronnie Boone:\u00a0take it
\nback, take it back if
\nyou know what’s good for you<\/em>.
\nWhich I don’t though I do.<\/p>\n

\u2014Jim Simmerman<\/strong>
\nMoon Go Away I Don’t Love You No More<\/em>
\nMiami University Press (1994)<\/p>\n

READ MORE OF JIM SIMMERMAN’S POETRY…<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

He is the author of five collections of poetry, including\u00a0Once Out of Nature<\/em>,\u00a0Home<\/em>,American Children<\/em>,\u00a0Kingdom Come\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Moon Go Away, I Don’t Love You No More<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Home<\/em>\u00a0was picked by Raymond Carver as a Pushcart Writer’s Choice selection in 1984. “These are evocative and beautifully rendered poems,” Carver said in his Pushcart citation. “Time and again I found myself stopping to draw breath, moved and sometimes startled at the aching rightness of the image, the felicity of the line. Simmerman is clearly among the best poets of his generation.”<\/p>\n

Allen Woodman<\/strong>, interim chair of the English Department said, “The English Department is sad about it all. Jim started our graduate creative writing program at NAU. He was a major influence on poetry in Arizona and elsewhere. He loved poetry and stray dogs. He will be missed by his friends and students.”<\/p>\n

Professor Simmerman co-edited with Joseph Duemer\u00a0Dog Music: Poetry About Dogs<\/em>\u00a0and has produced chapbooks of his poetry, includingYoyo<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Bad Weather<\/em>. His work also has been included in many journals and anthologies.<\/p>\n

Professor Simmerman was the recipient of fellowships from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Fine Arts Work Center, the Port Townsend Writers’ Workshop and the National Endowment for the Arts.<\/p>\n

“Jim Simmerman was the first poetry teacher I’d ever had and the best one,” said\u00a0James Jay<\/strong>, friend and local poet. “His focus and commitment to teaching poetry as a hard fought worthwhile and important venture continues to remain an inspiration for me.”<\/p>\n

Professor Simmerman is survived by his parents, Wade and Jane Simmerman; brother Jeffry Simmerman and Jeffry’s wife, Shelly, and six nephews and nieces.<\/p>\n

A celebration of Professor Simmerman’s life and work is planned for mid-August, but details are not yet available.<\/p>\n

The family requests that donations be made to the Coconino Humane Association, PO Box 66, Flagstaff, AZ 86002.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jim Simmerman, who spent nearly half his life as an English professor at Northern Arizona University and gained national fame for his poetry, died last week in his Flagstaff home. He was 54. “Jim was a conscientious instructor and a gifted wordsmith whose publishing career was still at full stride,” said\u00a0Marty Sommerness, School of Communication…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faculty-staff"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22773\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}