Theodore Weiss
Theodore Weiss was an influential American poet, critic, and editor, born in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1916. After completing his undergraduate studies, he pursued a master's degree at Columbia University. Weiss married violinist and children's author Renee Karol, and together they founded the Quarterly Review of Literature in 1943, a significant platform that helped introduce new writers and revive the works of lesser-known authors over nearly sixty years. He taught at several prestigious institutions, including Bard College and Princeton University, where he was a respected professor until his retirement in 1987. Weiss published his first poetry collection in 1951 and is perhaps best known for his narrative poem "Gunsight," which reflects on the experiences of a wounded World War II soldier. His critical essays cover a wide range of literary figures, including Wallace Stevens and T.S. Eliot, showcasing his deep engagement with modern poetry. Throughout his career, Weiss received numerous accolades, including the Wallace Stevens Award and the Shelley Award, and was honored with several honorary degrees. He continued to contribute to literary discussions internationally until his passing in 2003 due to Parkinson's disease.
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Theodore Weiss
Writer
- Born: December 16, 1916
- Birthplace: Reading, Pennsylvania
- Died: April 15, 2003
- Place of death: Princeton, New Jersey
Biography
Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, Theodore Weiss spent his childhood in several small Pennsylvania towns before enrolling in college. After receiving his B.A. in 1938, he went to Columbia University, where he received an M.A. in 1940. He married Renee Karol, a violinist who also wrote children’s books, in 1941. Two years later, the couple founded the Quarterly Review of Literature, a journal that they continued to edit for almost sixty years.
Weiss began his teaching career in 1941 at the University of Maryland, where he taught summer school. Subsequent posts included the University of North Carolina, Yale University, Bard College (where he spent almost twenty years), and Princeton University, where he ended his teaching career. In addition to his teaching, he was active as a poet, critic, and editor.
Weiss published his first book of poetry in 1951. His most notable poem is “Gunsight” (1962), a long narrative poem about a wounded World War II American soldier. He also wrote a book-length analysis of William Shakespeare’s early comedies and histories, a collection of critical essays, and also edited a selection of pieces from the notebooks of Gerard Manley Hopkins. Many critics consider Weiss’s editing of the Quarterly Review of Literature to be his most significant literary achievement, since he introduced new writers and revived some authors who had fallen from favor. He published critical essays on writers as diverse as Wallace Stevens, Ezra Pound, Boris Pasternak, and T.S. Eliot, besides writing about the state of modern poetry, which is itself the subject of some of his poems.
His work has been recognized by many awards and honors, among them a Ford Foundation Fellowship (1953), the Wallace Stevens Award (1956), an Ingram-Merrill Foundation grant (1974), the Poetry Society of America’s Shelley Award (1988-1989), and the Oscar Williams and Gene Drummond Award (1997). In 1980, he read his poems at the White House. He also served on the editorial board for Wesleyan University Press and was poetry editor for Princeton University’s Series of Contemporary Poets.
Weiss holds several honorary degrees, including ones from Muhlenberg and Bard Colleges. He was the W. and A. S. Paton Professor for Ancient and Modern Literature from 1977 until his retirement in 1987. Two years later, he lectured in South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines for the United States Information Agency. Before his death in 2003 from Parkinson’s disease, he was the subjects of two documentary films by Harvey Edwards.