Repository:

Kent State University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives.

Title:

Paul Zimmer and James McKean papers

Inclusive Date(s):

1989-2019

Author:

Finding aid prepared by Penny McKean, Jim McKean, and Cara Gilgenbach

Creation:

Finding aid encoded by Cara Gilgenbach using the OhioLINK EAD Application in 2022

Description Rules:

Finding aid prepared using DACS, 2nd Edition

Origination:

McKean, James, 1946 July 4-

Extent:

.33 cubic feet (1 document case)

Physical Location:

11th Floor

Finding Aid Identifier:

OhKeUSC0217

Abstract:

A collection of correspondence and related materials spanning thirty years between writers Paul Zimmer and James (Jim) McKean. The bulk of the contents are letters written by Zimmer to McKean, but several files include draft poems and other writing of McKean with commentary or notes by Zimmer.

Language(s):

The records are in English.

Biography of Paul Zimmer and James McKean

Paul Zimmer: Paul Zimmer was born in Canton, Ohio in 1934. After attending Kent State University until 1959, he worked as a news reporter for the United States Army from 1954-1955 and covered atomic bomb tests in Nevada. In 1967, Zimmer began his publishing career with the University of Pittsburgh Press, and his first book, The Ribs of Death, was published. He earned his Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree from Kent State University in 1968. Zimmer served as director of a number of university presses. His own publications include A Seed in the Wind (1960), The Ribs of Death (1967), The Republic of Many Voices (1969), The Zimmer Poems (1976), With Wanda: Town and Country Poems (1980), Family Reunion: Selected and New Poems (1983), The Great Bird of Love (1989), Big Blue Train (1993), Crossing Into Sunlight (1996), After the Fire (2002), Trains in the Distance (2004). Zimmer's work has been recognized through numerous awards and honors including an Open Book Award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors, six Pushcart Prizes, selection for the National Poetry Series, a Helen Bullis Memorial Award, and two National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowships. Paul Zimmer died on October 26, 2019.

James McKean: James McKean writes poetry and nonfiction. He has published two books of essays: Home Stand: Growing Up in Sports, and Bound; and three books of poems, Headlong, Tree of Heaven, and We Are the Bus. Headlong won a 1987 Great Lakes Colleges Association's New Writer Award, Tree of Heaven won a 1994 Iowa Poetry Prize, and We Are the Bus won the 2011 X.J. Kennedy poetry prize from Texas Review Press. His work has appeared in magazines and collections such as The Atlantic, Iowa Review, The Southern Review, the Best American Sports Writing 2003, and Basketball: Great Writing About America's Game. In 2006, he received a Pushcart Prize. He lives in Edmonds, WA, and teaches for the Queens M.F.A. creative writing program and the Tinker Mountain Writers' Workshop.

Historical Note on the Zimmer-McKean Correspondence. Written by James McKean, October 2022: I first came across a Paul Zimmer poem in the Winter 1974-75 issue of Poetry Northwest. I had the issue in hand because the editor David Wagoner had included a poem of mine, one of the first I ever published. When I opened Poetry Northwest to find my small contribution, the first poem I discovered was Paul's "Zimmer the Drugstore Cowboy." I was immediately taken with the voice, the language, the self-deprecation, and the unique sense of humor. Published in the same issue of Poetry Northwest with Paul Zimmer, I felt in wonderful company. Over the next thirteen years, I knew Zimmer only through his poems, which I admired and aspired to. His celebrations of the joys and sorrows of being alive were moving and made sense to me. My only contact with Paul during that time was a hand-written rejection from him after I had submitted a manuscript to his Georgia Poetry Series. His note was kind and encouraging.

In 1981 I finished an MFA at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and began circulating my manuscript of poems for publication. In 1986, after several years of teaching English in another state, my wife and I decided to return to the University of Iowa in Iowa City, where I began working on a Ph.D. in English. The University of Utah Poetry had just accepted my first book of poetry Headlong, to be published in 1987. I don't remember how Paul and I first met. Director of the University of Iowa Press since 1984, he was interested in supporting a community of poets and started a poets' luncheon in Iowa City. After Headlong was published, he invited me a number of times.

In 1990, I finished the Ph.D. and found work at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids. IA. Then in 1992, Paul asked if I would consider being a reader for his Iowa Poetry Series. I agreed and our correspondence and friendship began in earnest. In 1994, I was honored when Paul picked my second book Tree of Heaven for the Iowa Poetry Series. For the next twenty-seven years, Paul and I stayed in contact. We shared our poems and prose, asking for critiques and comments. We kept track of each other, our work, our families, our travels and adventures and the changes in our lives. Paul was a mentor, an attentive and sometimes stern coach, and a very astute reader. I valued his critical insights, his advice, and I was pleased that he valued mine. I always looked forward to hearing from him, by phone, by postcard or by his fascinating letters. He was a sympathetic and guiding spirit. Above all, I valued his friendship. He called me "Uncle Jim," and I called him "Uncle Paul," terms that made me feel included in Paul's "family," part of a greater circle of poets and writers that Paul listened to, cared for, and supported.

Scope and Content

The collection is comprised of letters, often accompanied by draft poems, essays, or other writing by the authors. Many of the drafts include annotations or comments. The correspondence spans thirty years.

Statement of Arrangement

The collection is organized chronologically with an undated item filed at the end of the collection.

Related Material

Kent State University also houses the Paul Zimmer papers.

Processing Information

Penny McKean created a detailed, item-level catalog of the contents of this collection. The description of items in this collection are taken directly from Penny McKean's catalog. Other elements of the finding aid were created by Cara Gilgenbach. Dates were supplied by letters themselves, or if undated, a postmark date (if available). Other dates were estimated by the McKeans when organizing the collection. The format of the date information for each entry in the finding aid listing has been normalized to the YYYY-MM-DD format (year, month, day). The McKean biographical note and background on the Zimmer-McKean relationship was written by James McKean.

Restrictions on Use

Copyright of materials in this collection is retained by the Paul Zimmer estate and by James McKean. Please contact the Department of Special Collections & Archives for copyright inquiries.

Preferred Citation

Paul Zimmer and James McKean papers. Kent State University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives.

Acquisition Information

The collection was donated to Special Collections & Archives by James McKean in July 2022, with a small addition made to the collection in August and October 2022.

Controlled Access Headings

The following are found in this collection:

Subjects:

• American poetry -- 20th century
• American poetry -- 21st century

Persons:

• McKean, James, 1946 July 4-
• Zimmer, Paul

Functions:

• American poetry -- Authorship
• Poetry -- Authorship

Occupations:

• Poets
• Poets, American

Material Types:

• Personal correspondence
• Correspondence
• Postcards
• Manuscripts, American
• Poetry

Detailed Description of the Collection