Marc Kaminsky

Marc Kaminsky is an American poet, writer, psychotherapist, and gerontologist. ^[1] His work ranges from editing a study of life review called The Uses of Reminiscence to writing poetry like A Table With People.

Kaminsky organized and conducted one of the earliest writing and reminiscing groups for elders, and edited the work of Barbara Myerhoff in Stories As Equipment for Living . He also explored the culture of Yiddishkeit. His long poem, The Road from Hiroshima, was produced as a play for voices for National Public Radio and was the inspiration for other works including a musical requiem. His most recent book is Shadow Traffic, a collection of essays, poems and short stories that deals with the aftermath of the Holocaust as well as the aftermath of personal traumas.

Biography

Born to a Jewish family in New York City in 1943, Kaminsky studied at Columbia University, graduating with a B.A. in 1964, and then an M.A. in 1967. He was the director for the West Side Senior Center at the Jewish Association for Services for the Aged (JASA) from 1972 to 1977. ^[1]

Published works

• Birthday Poems (Horizon Press, 1972)
• What's Inside You It Shines Out of You (Horizon Press, 1974)
• A New House (Horizon Press, 1974)
• The Journal Project: Pages from the Lives of Old People (Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 1980)
• A Table With People (Sun, 1982)
• Daily Bread (University of Illinois Press, 1982)
• The Road from Hiroshima (Simon & Schuster, 1984)
• The Uses of Reminiscence (Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, 1984)
• Target Populations (Central Park Editions, 1991)
• Shadow Traffic (Red Hen Press, 2007)
• A Cleft in the Rock (Dos Madres, 2018)
• The Stones of Lifta (Dos Madres, 2019)

References

1. The Marc Kaminsky Papers, The Ohio Library and Information Network (LINK)