Paul Erwin Nemser

Paul Erwin Nemser was born and grew up in Portland Oregon. He loved poetry, from his first nursery rhymes, to the last poem he read - Shelley's The Triumph of Life. He loved music, and had a beautiful voice and an encyclopedic memory for songs - from the Yiddish songs he learned from his Ukrainian grandfather, to show tunes, rock, folk, the entire Bob Dylan opus, and everything in between.

He studied poetry at Harvard (AB'71) with Robert Lowell, Robert Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Bishop and creative writing at Columbia School for the Arts (MA'73).

Paul was working at a bookstore when Rebecca walked in to buy a book. They were married a few months later, spent their honeymoon in Deer Isle, ME, then moved to Cambridge, MA. They returned to Penobscot Bay every summer and celebrated their 48th anniversary in their home in Harborside, ME.

Paul attended Boston University School of Law (JD'79) and had a long and distinguished career as a partner at Goodwin, a prestigious Boston law firm. Paul shared his love of poetry with their son Alexander, born in 1983, reading William Blake to him at night, singing ballads and composing spontaneous nonsense poems, rhymes and songs. Paul was a wonderful reader and did inimitable and hilarious voices, making books come alive.

Paul continued to read and write poetry almost every day of his life. He published two co-translations of Ukrainian poetry and three books of poetry: Taurus, A Thousand Curves, and Break On Through, as well as dozens of poems in literary magazines.

Thanks to Dr. Christopher Nabel at MGH, "Team Paul," The Cambridge Homes, Always Best Care, Kolot Chayeinu, and all the artists, poets, musicians, farmers, helpers, healers and friends who helped Paul live well during his long illness, and pass away peacefully with Rebecca and Alexander by his side.