Introduction

Jack Mashman was born in Philadelphia in 1915 into a Jewish immigrant family of typical abject poverty. His parents had immigrated from Eastern Europe to escape the social disruption of the Russian Revolution. His father was totally disabled by the neurological sequelae of influenza acquired during the 1918 epidemic. Thus, the task of supporting the family fell alone to his mother. Acquiring food and a place to sleep were a daily challenge. Death was always near. His eldest sister died at the age of three from an accidental fall, but he and a brother, Alan, survived into adulthood.

Jack graduated from high school without any career plan but he had developed an interest in writing which he hoped to pursue. As World War II began, he found employment in an aircraft factory and so was deferred from the draft for the first half of the war. He was eventually drafted and sent to Europe in an infantry support capacity. He saw the concentration camps and devastation of Europe as a young man.

Before leaving for Europe, he met and married a young widow. Dorothy became his lifelong wife and companion. On his return from the war, Jack and his brother-in-law, Herb, acquired a small family book business from Dorothy's father. This was developed into a successful wholesale book distribution company over the next three decades in the New York metropolitan area. Jack was not intrinsically interested in commerce nor economically ambitious. His goal appeared to be financial security without the survival worries of his youth. Jack adopted Dorothy's son, Jan, from her previous marriage and produced an additional biological son, Robert.

Jack had been an assiduous saver during his working years and at the age of 55, sold his interest in the business and retired. He and Dorothy purchased a piece of land on Sarasota Bay in Florida and built a house overlooking the water. Some years later in 1978, they purchased an apartment in London near Speakers' Corner. Dorothy had many cousins in London. They would spend the winters in Florida and the summers in London. In 1996 when the annual move became too burdensome because of advancing age, they sold the London apartment and remained in Sarasota throughout the year.

Dorothy was interested in visual and material arts and artifacts, and had a variety of collections including some specialized books. The house in Sarasota was filled with a wide variety of volumes, many that had been acquired from the period when they were in the book industry, but the collection continued to grow for decades according to each of their interests. Jack was not much attached to the material world and spent his time listening to classical music and reading literature and history.

Jack established many social relationships, particularly in Sarasota. He belonged to several interest groups for decades. One was a Great Books Club that read and talked about the important works of Western Civilization. Another was the Poetry Workshop of the Selby Public Library whose members read and critiqued the poetry that each had written.

Dorothy died in 2004 and Jack survived her for about one year dying in 2005, four months short of his 90th birthday. Both were in good health and died after short illnesses.

Jack's family was aware of his poetry writing but he did not show us many pieces. His poetry workshop published an anthology and one poem was published in the Sarasota newspaper. Those were the few that anyone outside of his workshop had seen. In 1998, he presented to his two sons and his wife a carefully compiled collection of his poems each in a loose leaf notebook. In his last few years he told me that he considered the writing and compiling of these poems his most satisfying life accomplishment. Almost paradoxically, he had no interest in attempting to publish them or present them to a wider audience.

The poems were numbered sequentially and that is the way I have presented them here with one exception. The first poem was written for his 50th wedding anniversary and so is atypical because it was written for presentation. I have chosen to move the two versions (a second version was distributed at the anniversary) of that poem to the end of this collection.

The remainder of his poems have in common, his attempt to give form to his perceptions and emotions about his experiences, existential issues and the historical context in which he lived.

The collection is dated 1978-1995. Jack was aged 63-80 in these years. The earliest dated poem is 1981. There are several undated poems suggesting that these are the earliest ones.

I have attempted to put the verse into electronic form in the same format in which they were typed. There were occasional typographical errors and a few he had corrected himself in pen. If there were obvious errors, I have corrected them. If deviations from usual spelling and grammar might have been intentional, I have reproduced them as in the original.

Robert Mashman


				Notes



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		Biographical & Editorial Notes



		Jack Mashman was born in Philadelphia in 1915 into a Jewish immigrant family of typical abject poverty. His parents had immigrated from Eastern Europe to escape the social disruption of the Russian Revolution. His father was totally disabled by the neurological sequelae of influenza acquired during the 1918 epidemic. Thus, the task of supporting the family fell alone to his mother. Acquiring food and a place to sleep were a daily challenge. Death was always near. His eldest sister died at the age of three from an accidental fall, but he and a brother, Alan, survived into adulthood. Jack graduated from high school without any career plan but he had developed an interest in writing which he hoped to pursue. As World War II began, he found employment in an aircraft factory and so was deferred from the draft for the first half of the war. He was eventually drafted and sent to Europe in an infantry support capacity. He saw the concentration camps and devastation of Europe as a young man. Before leaving for Europe, he met and married a young widow. Dorothy became his lifelong wife and companion. On his return from the war, Jack and his brother-in-law, Herb, acquired a small family book business from Dorothy's father. This was developed into a successful wholesale book distribution company over the next three decades in the New York metropolitan area. Jack was not intrinsically interested in commerce nor economically ambitious. His goal appeared to be financial security without the survival worries of his youth. Jack adopted Dorothy's son, Jan, from her previous marriage and produced an additional biological son, Robert. Jack had been an assiduous saver during his working years and at the age of 55, sold his interest in the business and retired. He and Dorothy purchased a piece of land on Sarasota Bay in Florida and built a house overlooking the water. Some years later in 1978, they purchased an apartment in London near Speakers' Corner. Dorothy had many cousins in London. They would spend the winters in Florida and the summers in London. In 1996 when the annual move became too burdensome because of advancing age, they sold the London apartment and remained in Sarasota throughout the year. Dorothy was interested in visual and material arts and artifacts, and had a variety of collections including some specialized books. The house in Sarasota was filled with a wide variety of volumes, many that had been acquired from the period when they were in the book industry, but the collection continued to grow for decades according to each of their interests. Jack was not much attached to the material world and spent his time listening to classical music and reading literature and history. Jack established many social relationships, particularly in Sarasota. He belonged to several interest groups for decades. One was a Great Books Club that read and talked about the important works of Western Civilization. Another was the Poetry Workshop of the Selby Public Library whose members read and critiqued the poetry that each had written. Dorothy died in 2004 and Jack survived her for about one year dying in 2005, four months short of his 90th birthday. Both were in good health and died after short illnesses. Jack's family was aware of his poetry writing but he did not show us many pieces. His poetry workshop published an anthology and one poem was published in the Sarasota newspaper. Those were the few that anyone outside of his workshop had seen. In 1998, he presented to his two sons and his wife a carefully compiled collection of his poems each in a loose leaf notebook. In his last few years he told me that he considered the writing and compiling of these poems his most satisfying life accomplishment. Almost paradoxically, he had no interest in attempting to publish them or present them to a wider audience. The poems were numbered sequentially and that is the way I have presented them here with one exception. The first poem was written for his 50th wedding anniversary and so is atypical because it was written for presentation. I have chosen to move the two versions (a second version was distributed at the anniversary) of that poem to the end of this collection. The remainder of his poems have in common, his attempt to give form to his perceptions and emotions about his experiences, existential issues and the historical context in which he lived. The collection is dated 1978-1995. Jack was aged 63-80 in these years. The earliest dated poem is 1981. There are several undated poems suggesting that these are the earliest ones. I have attempted to put the verse into electronic form in the same format in which they were typed. There were occasional typographical errors and a few he had corrected himself in pen. If there were obvious errors, I have corrected them. If deviations from usual spelling and grammar might have been intentional, I have reproduced them as in the original. Robert Mashman