WATERVILLE – Richard Gillman, 75, whose poetry and articles have inspired many readers, died Oct. 3, 2004, of Alzheimer’s disease at Mount St. Joseph in Waterville. Richard was born Jan. 14, 1929, in Northampton, Mass., the son of Butler and Evelyn Damon Gillman. His early professional experience was as a news reporter for the Daily Hampshire Gazette. After work at Ballantine Books, he became director of Public Affairs at Brandeis University from 1961 to 1970. Then he became an administrator at the State University of New York’s Central Administration, posts he held for 15 years before taking early retirement in 1985. A Korean war veteran who attended Columbia University on the GI Bill, Gillman is the author of two volumes of poems, Too Much Alone (Alan Swallow, Denver, 1965) and Lunch at Carcassonne (X Press, Manchester, MA, 1976) as well as a collaborating editor of two volumes about poets, Traveling in Amherst (Rowan Tree Press, Boston, 1986), selections from the journals of poet and friend, Robert Francis, about whom he wrote the Introduction, and Poets, Poetics and Politics (University Press of Kansas, 1992), a selection of the letters by poet and translator, Rolfe Humphries, also a friend. His poems have appeared in nine anthologies, including Maine’s own The Quotable Moose and The Maine Poets, both edited by Wesley McNair, and numerous magazines and quarterlies, more recently including Sewanee Review, The Southern Review and New England Review. Gillman published his first poem at age 18, and wrote continuously for the rest of his life. He directed a poetry workshop and course in contemporary American poetry at Cambridge, Mass. Adult Education Center in 1963-64. He has given public readings of his poetry at Brandeis, Northeastern U, Folger Shakespeare Museum, Boston Athanaeum, New England Poetry Club, SUNY at Albany and Live Poets Society of Maine, etc. He was a recipient of Yaddo fellowships and an Ossabaw Writers Project Fellowship. He was invited by the Poetry Office, Library of Congress in 1977 to record selections of poetry for the Library’s archives. In addition to his wife, Dr. Karen Gillman of Winslow, Gillman is survived by two daughters, Julie Foresto of Florida and Margot Prichard of South Carolina; two stepdaughters, Dr. Debi Roelke of Basking Ridge, N.J., and Sandy River of Farmington, and nine grandchildren. His son, Richard Butler, predeceased him. His sister, Shirley Navotny; and stepmother, Marion Gillman, live in Northampton, Mass. A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 10, at the Universalist Unitarian Church of Waterville. Donations may be made in Richard’s name to the Maine Alzheimer’s Association, 163 Lancaster St., Suite 160B, Portland, ME 04101. Arrangements are under the care of Pine State Cremation.
RICHARD EARLE GILLMAN
