Porter, Bern, 1911-2004

Bernard Harden Porter was born on Feb. 14, 1911 in Porter Settlement, ME; Sc. B, Colby College, 1932; Sc. M, Brown Univ., 1933; special courses at Da Vinci School (1937), Convair School (1957), Univ. of Maine (1960), and Federal School (1963); in 1929 founded Bern Porter (publishing company) in Belfast, ME; became physicist for Acheson Colloids Corp. (1935-40) and for the Manhattan District Engineers (1940-45); became consulting physicist in 1945; director of Contemporary Gallery, West Coast Design Guild, and Fund for Contemporary Expression, 1947-50; Republican candidate for governor of ME, 1969; became author, poet, editor, illustrator, and publisher; founding fellow, International Poetry Society; published works include Colloidal graphite : its properties and applications (1939), Map of physics (1939), Henry Miller : a bibliography (compiler, 1943), Scandinavian summer (1961), Wernher Von Braun : a bibliography and selected papers (editor, 1966), Reminiscences, 1927-1970 (1970), American strange (1979), and Isla Vista (1981).

Physicist and methodology specialist.

American physicist, poet, publisher, editor of artists' books, illustrator and mail artist.

Bernard Harden Porter is a poet, artist, nuclear physicist, publisher, editor of artists' books and cultural journals.

Biography

Bernard Harden Porter was born on February 14, 1911 in Porter Settlement, Maine; Sc.B, Colby College, 1932; Sc.M, Brown University, 1933; special courses at Da Vinci School (1937), Convair School (1957), University of Maine (1960), and Federal School (1963); in 1929 founded Bern Porter (publishing company) in Belfast, Maine; became physicist for Acheson Colloids Corporation (1935-40) and for the Manhattan District Engineers (1940-45); became consulting physicist in 1945; director of Contemporary Gallery, West Coast Design Guild, and Fund for Contemporary Expression, 1947-50; Republican candidate for governor of Maine, 1969; became author, poet, editor, illustrator, and publisher; founding fellow, International Poetry Society; published works include Colloidal Graphite: its Properties and Applications (1939), Map of Physics (1939), Henry Miller: a Bibliography (compiler, 1943), Scandinavian Summer (1961), Wernher Von Braun: a Bibliography and Selected Papers (editor, 1966), Reminiscences, 1927-1970 (1970), American Strange (1979), and Isla Vista (1981).

Biographical/Historical Note

Bern Porter was born Bernard Harden Porter on February 14, 1911 in Porter Settlement, Maine. Schooled in physics, Porter contributed to the Manhattan Project until 1945 when he quit shortly after he published Henry Miller's Murder the Murderer, an anti-war tract. Disillusioned by the misapplication of scientific potential, Porter began to express himself through a fusion of science and art. In 1959, he established the Institute for Advanced Thinking to encourage freelance physicists to develop ideas that combine physics and the humanities.

Porter is one of the founders of the mail art network, sending visual poetry, letters, one-of-a-kind postcards and altered images to international correspondents as early as the 1950s. He has participated in many mail art exhibitions and also maintains an extensive literary career. To date he has written over 80 books and published over 400.