Paul Zimmer, a noted & renowned poet was born on September 18, 1934 in Canton, Ohio. In 1952, he enrolled in the Kent University for college, where he failed thrice as English freshman & had to eventually drop out. He began working in a steel mill where after ten days, the millworkers’ went on strike & Zimmer was drafted to the US Army in 1954. It was in this period, that Zimmer found his calling in writing poetry after discovering The Pocket Book of Modern Verse. He utilized this time in the Army to voraciously read up on Poetry & scribbling some poetry. After getting discharged from the Army, Zimmer re-enrolled at the Kent University, completing his Bachelor’s Degree majoring in English in 1968. This year also marked the publication of his first book, The Ribs of Death.
According to his biography, Zimmer was fond of working around books & hence successfully managed various book stores as a Manager viz. Macy’s Department at San Francisco, San Francisco News Company, University of California, & L.A. Book Store. Such a love for books & literature combined with his experience in writing, saw Zimmer becoming the Director of University Press for prestigious universities like University of Iowa, Georgia & Pittsburgh. It was in Pittsburgh where he co-founded the famous Pitt Poetry Series. Apart from this, Zimmer conducted readings and workshops in around 300 different academic institutions, which included Universities like Hollins, Ohio, Drake, University of Southern California, the Folger Shakespeare Institute, the Whitney Museum, NYC and the US Naval Academy.
He also taught poetry on a part-time basis at Carnegie-Mellon University while working at the University of Pittsburgh Press and was a poet-in-residence at Hollins University and the University of Montana after retiring from the University of Iowa.
Zimmer’s poetry showcased the drama & wit of everyday life situations using free-verses & modest diction. His poetry is often described as peculiar, humorous, full of surprises & witty while being a lively concoction of language. His notable poems include The Ribs of Death (1967), The Republic of Many Voices (1969), and The Zimmer Poems (1976), With Wanda: Town and Country Poems (1980), Ancient Wars (1981), Family Reunion(1983), and Earthbound Zimmer (1983) of which Family Reunion won the coveted Arts and Letters Award in Literature.
In his long & illustrious career, Paul Zimmer has received numerous honors, awards & grants including two National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowships, six Pushcart Prizes, Arts and Letters Award in Literature, Helen Bullis Memorial Award. Retiring from the books business, Paul now lives with his wife Suzanne in a beautiful wide acre surrounded with woods & meadows located in Wisconsin, where he still writes for his own pleasure.
The internet search also acknowledges another Paul Zimmer who is a YouTuber & one half of the Musician Duo: Exclamation Point available on Twitter under the handle “@epPaulZimmer”. The youth is very fond of the present Paul and he has quite a remarkable number of followers over You Tube and other social networking sites.
| Net Worth 2021: | 300 thousand |
