Weishaus, Joel.

Joel Weishaus was born in Brooklyn, New York on July 11, 1939. He attended local schools and graduated from the prestigious Erasmus Hall High School. At age twenty, Weishaus was a junior executive (motion picture accounts) on Madison Avenue. During this time, he gave much thought to a future career in the arts. In 1960, he spent several months in Los Angeles reflecting on his career. Deciding that the West Coast was not appropriate for him at the time, he returned to New York to pursue a life in writing, sculpting, and painting. This quest led him to study creative writing with Charles Glicksberg at the New School for Social Research. Weishaus did not find the confinement of a classroom conducive to his art, so he left and worked at various jobs and places on the East Coast which allowed him the time to devote to his creative talent.

Joel moved to San Francisco in 1964 where his work revolved around sculpting. Within the year, however, he would focus on writing and poetry. In 1965, his friendship with the poet, Gary Snyder, would influence his life and writing for a ten year period. In 1965, his first published works began to appear in poetry magazines and journals. Poetry was accepted and published by TRACE, Monk's Pond, Rolling Stone, PANJANDUM, Plumber's Ink, as well as regional and local publications. Throughout this time, Weishaus's extensive network of colleagues included major writers and poets such as Robert Bly, Robert Creeley, Gary Snyder, and Allen Ginsberg.

...