Howard Nemerov

Howard Nemerov, born to a wealthy New York Jewish family, certainly had the origins down pat. His parents, David Nemerov and Gertrude Russek, ran Russeks, a Fifth Avenue department store. His younger sister was the famed photographer Diane Arbus, making for a family tree practically dripping with creative talent and, perhaps, a touch of neurosis. Despite his background, Nemerov’s Jewish identity seems to have been more a matter of heritage than active practice, though he did serve in the Royal Canadian Air Force and later the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.

Nemerov's literary career was extensive and critically acclaimed. He served as the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress twice, a rare distinction, and earned a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1978 for his Collected Poems. His work often explored themes of nature, war, and the complexities of human existence, earning him a place among the significant American poets of the 20th century. He was also a distinguished professor at various universities, including Washington University in St. Louis.

While his achievements certainly brought nachas to the literary world, and presumably to his family, his Jewishness remained largely in the background of his public persona. He married Margaret Fleischer, who was not Jewish, and there’s little evidence of deep engagement with Jewish communal or religious life. He was, however, undeniably brilliant, even if the world sometimes remembered his sister's haunting photographs more readily than his eloquent verses.