Offen, Ron

Editor, poet, and librarian. Born 1930 in Chicago. A.A., Wright Junior College, 1950. M.A., University of Chicago, 1967. Founded the poetry journal, Free Lunch: A Poetry Miscellany.

Ron Offen was born to Charles, a sales engineer, and Ellen Offen on October 12, 1930 in Chicago, IL. In 1950 he married Sharon Nealy; from 1966-2000 he was married to Rosine Breuckner (aka Kristine Cameron); in 2003, he married Beverly K. Drick. Offen received an AA degree from Wright Junior College in 1950 and an MA degree from the University of Chicago in 1967.

Offen worked in the insurance industry from 1953-1967. He then pursued a literary career as a poet, writer, and editor. He served as editor for Chicagoland (1967-1969) and Automotive Fleet (1969-1971). In 1994 he edited The Starving Poets’ Cookbook, Free Lunch Arts Alliance. He wrote biographies and books of poetry, including Dillinger: Dead or Alive? (with Jay Robert Nash, 1970), Brando (1973), Together: A Casebook of Joint Practices in Primary Care (with Hal Higdon and Jack Star, 1977), Instead of Gifts: Poems for Poets (1995), Answer Questions (1996), and God’s Haircut, and other Remembered Dreams (1999).

Offen wrote poetry columns for Chicagoland and Automotive Fleet magazines. He also created several television series including Blackwash, Main Road Travelled, and Meeting of the Mindless, as well as the radio plays The Last Celebration of Leon Duprey, and Madame Sostro: The Dream Merchant.

In 1989, after a bout with cancer, Offen founded the poetry journal Free Lunch: A Poetry Miscellany. He stated, “I thought about how important poetry had been to me my whole life and how much it had given to me. So, I thought, I want to give something back to poetry and poets.”

Offen is an active member in various organizations, such as Authors League of America and Society of Mid Land Authors. In 1955 Offen won first prize from the Chicago Poets and Writers Association and in 1975 he won the Joseph Jefferson Award for producer of children’s theater.

Offen continues to edit Free Lunch: A Poetry Miscellany and write.