Sunday, December 11, 2011
Herbert Randolph Coursen was passionate about Shakespeare, poetry, sports,
music and politics. They enlivened his conversation and defined his life.
Coursen—a talented, brilliant, witty and sometimes irascible man—died Saturday
in his sleep at his home in Brunswick, Maine.
H.
R. Coursen was born in 1932 in Newark, N. J., attended Amherst College, where
he was a member of Sphinx, the honor society, Wesleyan University, and the
University of Connecticut, from which he received a Ph.D. in English. He taught
at Newark Academy, the Choate School, Bowdoin College, where he was chairman of
the English Department, Clemson University, Ohio University, The University of
London, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, University of Maine at Augusta
and Southern New Hampshire University.
A
fighter pilot in the USAF during the 1950s, he was an early opponent of the war
in Vietnam and one of the original members of Veterans for Peace.
Robert
Chute of Poland Springs, noted poet and Bates Professor Emeritus of Biology,
joined Coursen at local poetry readings. They were helpful to each other, as
Robert explained: “I knew Herb as a fellow U.S. Air Force veteran in Veterans
for Peace — his war Korea, mine, World War II. I knew him as a fellow poet,
exchanging, without offense or favor, suggestions, edits, corrections. He was
an insightful scholar and a writer of astounding diversity. His life, as are
all lives, was many things, but much of it was Literature, with a capital
L.”
Coursen
leaves a plethora of writing—18 critical books on Shakespeare, 36 books of
poetry, 25 novels, an eight-book fantasy series and seven classic stories
adapted into modern verse. In 1996, a poll conducted by Penn State
University named him one of the “25 Master Teachers of Shakespeare during the
past one hundred years.” His “Mythos” was a Writer’s Digest finalist in 2001.
He won the Motton Award from the New England Poetry Club in 1998 for best book
of poems in the previous year and was given the Warren Award from the New
England Poetry Club in 1992, 1995, 1997, 2000 and 2005 for best published poem
of the previous year. He won the Maine Poets Society Award for best poem
several times. He will be missed in the literary world of Maine and beyond.
Coursen
was active in Maine’s poetry community, including the Maine Poetry Society,
local poetry readings and slams and providing guidance to the Longfellow Days
Committee. “Herb was indispensable to the Longfellow Days poetry readings at
Curtis Library, and, before his death, had booked all the poets for the 2012
readings. He was planning to lead poetry workshops at Thornton Oaks, The
Highlands and the Brunswick Inn at Park Row. These plans will be realized and a
special tribute offered in his memory,” said Claudia Knox, member of the
Longfellow Days Committee. Longfellow Days Chair, Maryli Tieman said that she
was overwhelmed by Coursen’s death, stating, “The entire Longfellow Days
committee joins me in mourning the loss of Herb. For over seven years he has
been OUR Longfellow poet.”
John
Ambrose, a retired Bowdoin College professor, will miss his Sunday sports
buddy. “Herb and I were close friends while colleagues on the Bowdoin
College faculty. The friendship extended to the tennis courts where we often
played together.” During the summer of 1977, Ambrose and Coursen won the town
of Brunswick doubles tournament. Ambrose still has the trophy. “Herb was an
excellent athlete; his tennis strokes were as precise as his quotations from
Shakespeare.” During the fall they got together to watch the New York Giants
Sunday football games, usually in Coursen's cozy TV room surrounded by
souvenirs of bullfighting: posters, glasses and figurines added to his
ever increasing collection of overlapping and stacked Shakespeare, sports and
travel souvenirs.
“Herb
was an absolutely devoted and knowledgeable Giants supporter. We talked about
players, coaches, strategy, as we did every game. Herb's observations were
often more incisive than even the game announcers! I'll never be able to watch
a Giants game without thinking of Herb by my side to cheer or grouch with. As
he liked to say, ‘Grouching is part of watching football!’"
Herb
was a New York Giants fan—but larger than that—he was the ultimate sports fan.
He knew the statistics for baseball, football, bull fighting and most other
sports to the degree that one wonders how he found the time to write so
prolifically. But he did write and his “October Saturday: 1949” headed an
article “Seeing Daylight” in the January 10 issue of Sports Illustrated.
"I'm probably the only poet who has had two poems in Sports Illustrated,"
he joked to a reporter in 2005.
Coursen’s
writing also appeared on the editorial pages of nearly every publication in New
England that accepted letters to the editor, including The Times
Record, the New York Times
and The Nation. His subjects were anti-war, social programs, education
and the vulnerability of the electric delivery grid. His essays—what some would
say were rants—pointed out the ever-widening gap between the rich and the rest.
His clear evaluations of topics and ardent calls for action will be
missed.
For
many years, Coursen conducted a big band show for WYAR, Yarmouth, Maine, using
his vast collection of records as the basis of the program. That ended at the
beginning of the new century. Coursen collected hundreds of vinyl records,
continuing to play them for his own enjoyment, sometimes playing along on his
cornet.
The
people who will miss Herb Coursen the most are his family. Speaking with his
publisher in 2008, he agreed that his grandchildren brought out the best in
him. He was predeceased by his companion of twenty years, Pam Mount, who died
March 2011. He is survived by brothers: Franklin H. Coursen of Massachusetts and Dean
Coursen of Town; daughters: Susan Leigh Coursen of Tampa, Florida, Virginia
Coursen Wyatt of Sarasota, Florida, and Elizabeth Coursen of Sarasota; and
grandchildren: Susan Randolph Wyatt, Bruce Edwin Wyatt III, Virginia Kathleen
Coursen and Margaret Leigh Wyatt.
