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John M. 'Jack' Wiler (December 14, 1951 - October 20, 2009) was a American poet and AIDS survivor. id="wikipedia_cite_ref_0" class="reference">[1] id="wikipedia_cite_ref_1" class="reference">[2] id="wikipedia_cite_ref_2" class="reference">[3]


Jack grew up in the close knit, quiet, sheltered South Jersey town of Wenonah,
New Jersey
. His mother was a librarian at the Wenonah Free Public Library who instilled a love of books in her children and
his father was a salesman in the petroleum industry. href="#cite_note-3">[4] Jack was the eldest of four children. class="reference">[5] In his
last years he created a blog in a serial memoir format about life in Wenonah as he experienced it as a boy. In his posts he attributed the development of his abilities as a story teller and later as a performing poet in large part to the practice he got while walking to school. Wenonah Elementary had no cafeteria in those days and children walked to school in the morning, home for lunch, back to school after lunch and home again after school. Jack walked with a small group of cronies who spun tales as they strolled back and forth. In other posts he wrote about how Wenonah appeared to him when returning to recover from AIDS after living the city life.[6] id="wikipedia_cite_ref_6" class="reference">[7]He
graduated from Gateway Regional High School in title="Woodbury Heights, New Jersey">Woodbury Heights, New Jersey, and from Rutgers University with a BA in 1976.[8]


Jack began writing poetry seriously in 1978. His motivation changed after he very nearly died from AIDS complications. id="wikipedia_cite_ref_8" class="reference">[9] He
began publishing poems in a number of magazines including Long Shot Magazine, Edison Literary Review, Painted Bride Quarterly and Entelechy International: A Journal of Contemporary Ideas.[10] id="wikipedia_cite_ref_10" class="reference">[11] He
contributed poems to and served for six years as an editor for Hoboken, NJ based Long Shot Magazine.[12] id="wikipedia_cite_ref_12" class="reference">[13] id="wikipedia_cite_ref_13" class="reference">[14]


In addition to poems that appeared in a number of poetry magazines Jack published two books of poetry during his life, I Have No
Clue
in 1996 and Fun Being Me in 2006.[15][16][17][18] Bob Holman listed Fun Being Me as one of the ten best poetry books of 2006 on About.com.[19]


Jack's work was included in a number of anthologies including Aloud, the anthology of the Nuyorican Poets Café, the Outlaw Poetry Anthology from Thundermouth Press, Stiletto2: The Disinherited, and Bum Rush the Page.[20] In 2004 his work was included in The Breath of Parted Lips, Vol II a collection of poems from the Frost Place.[21]


For all his love of reading and writing the soul and joy of Jack's work was in his performance of his poetry. Performing poetry was an
important part of his work as a visiting poet in New Jersey high schools as part of the poetry-in-the-schools program sponsored by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.[22][23] The
foundation honored Jack in 1988 and 1996 by including him among the "Poets Among Us" group at the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Foundation Festival.[24][25] At the 2006 foundation festival Jack was listed as one of the "Festival Poets." href="#cite_note-25">[26] At least one recording of his work survives on the web at the Indie
Feed site listed among the external links below.[27]


Of particular note among Jack's performances was that of Jack playing himself in a one man play, Fun Being Me, that Steven McCasland adapted from Jack's two books.[28][29]


Jack's day job for twenty years was as a sales manager for Acme Exterminating Corporation in New York City. Acme Exterminating,
with Jack Wiler on the scene, participated when Central Park held its first rat D-day in 1991. class="reference">[30] id="wikipedia_cite_ref_30" class="reference">[31] He
was interviewed by the BBC about his role in pest control. The interview is available as a streaming audio file or mp3. id="wikipedia_cite_ref_31" class="reference">[32] id="wikipedia_cite_ref_32" class="reference">[33] id="wikipedia_cite_ref_33" class="reference">[34] At
times he was also consulted on cockroach issues.[35]


After his death at age 57, the poetry anthology Omega 7 From Hive This Mind, which includes five of his poems, was
dedicated to memory of Jack Wiler. href="#cite_note-35">[36]

Books

  • I Have No Clue, Long Shot Productions, 1996 ISBN 9780965473804
  • Fun Being Me: Poems (Notable Voices), CavanKerry Press, 2006, ISBN 0-972-304592

References

  1. ^
    http://www.tributes.com/show/Jack-Wiler-87003288
  2. ^
    href="http://www.hudsonreporter.com/pages/full_stories_home/push?article--Poet+Jack+Wiler+dead+at+57-+%20&id=4365541--Poet+Jack+Wiler+dead+at+57-+&instance=up_to_the_minute_lead_story_left_column" class="external free"
    rel="nofollow">http://www.hudsonreporter.com/pages/full_stories_home/push?article--Poet+Jack+Wiler+dead+at+57-+%20&id=4365541--Poet+Jack+Wiler+dead+at+57-+&instance=up_to_the_minute_lead_story_left_column
  3. ^
    http://www.hudsonreporter.com/pages/full_stories_home/push?article-Back+from+the+dead+Wiler s+poetry+deals+with+struggle+to+survive%20&id=2409780
  4. ^ http://www.wenonahlibrary.com/
  5. ^
    rel="nofollow">http://obits.nj.com/obituaries/gloucester/obituary.aspx?n=john-m-wiler-jack&pid=134861462
  6. ^
    rel="nofollow">http://jackwiler.blogspot.com/2007/02/wenonah-now-and-then.html
  7. ^
    rel="nofollow">http://obits.nj.com/obituaries/gloucester/obituary.aspx?n=john-m-wiler-jack&pid=134861462
  8. ^
    information gathered in a phone conversation from Cheryl Hallam, Rutgers Administrative Assistant in Alumni Affairs Department
  9. ^
    http://nbs.gmnews.com/news/2008/0320/Front_Page/026.html
  10. ^
    http://pbq.drexel.edu/archives/main/index_48.html
  11. ^ class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://pbq.drexel.edu/archives/main/pdf/pbq_48.pdf
  12. ^
    http://www.longshot.org/
  13. ^
    rel="nofollow">http://hudsonreporter.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Back+from+the+dead+Wiler-s+poetry+deals+with+struggle+to+survive%20&id=2409780
  14. ^
    http://www.poetspath.com/Scholarship_Project/shot.html
  15. ^
    http://www.longshot.org/books/wiler/index.htm
  16. ^
    http://www.spdbooks.org/Producte/0965473805/i-have-no-clue.aspx
  17. ^
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_in_poetry#United_States
  18. ^
    http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Fun+Being+Me.-a0157589571
  19. ^
    http://poetry.about.com/od/poetrybooks/tp/bestbooks2006.htm
  20. ^
    http://www.upne.com/0-9723045-9-2.html
  21. ^
    http://cavankerry.com/authors.php
  22. ^
    http://blog.grdodge.org/2009/10/23/poetry-fridays-jack-wiler/
  23. ^
    http://www.hudsonreporter.com/pages/full_stories_home/push?article-Back+from+the+dead+Wiler-s+poetry+deals+with+struggle+to+survive%20&id=2409780
  24. ^
    http://www.dodgepoetry.org/past-festivals/who-was-there/1988-2/
  25. ^
    http://www.dodgepoetry.org/past-festivals/who-was-there/festival-1996/
  26. ^
    http://www.dodgepoetry.org/past-festivals/festival-2006/poetsmusiciansstorytellers/
  27. ^
    http://www.indiefeedpp.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=123998
  28. ^
    http://steven-mccasland.weebly.com/
  29. ^
    http://everseradio.com/e-verser-jack-wiler-invites-you-to-a-play-about-his-life-adapted-from-his-books-of-poetry/
  30. ^
    http://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/11/nyregion/central-park-holds-first-rat-d-day.html
  31. ^
    class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/15/weekinreview/ideas-trends-in-the-chemical-war-on-rats-home-delivery-works-best.html
  32. ^
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/documentary_archive/4599909.stm
  33. ^
    rel="nofollow">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4073020.stm
  34. ^
    http://acmeexterminating.com/press/press.htm
  35. ^
    class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.observer.com/2008/hey-where-have-all-cockroaches-gone?page=0
  36. ^
    http://issuu.com/howlingdogpress/docs/omega7fromhivethismind

External
links

  • [ href="http://www.indiefeedpp.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=123998" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.indiefeedpp.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=123998
    Indie Feed: Performance Poetry, Jack Wiler presents his poem Back to Work
  • [ href="http://jackwiler.blogspot.com/2007/02/wenonah-now-and-then.html"= class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://jackwiler.blogspot.com/2007/02/wenonah-now-and-then.html
    Jack Wiler's World
  • [ class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://obits.nj.com/obituaries/gloucester/obituary.aspx?n=john-m-wiler-jack&pid=134861462
    John Wiler Obituary
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