James William Cantrell was a resident of Young Harris, Georgia.
Paul J. Zimmer was born September 18, 1934 in Canton, Ohio. His parents were of German, Belgian and French ancestry and the family would often take long trips to see Paul's French grandparents in Indiana. Growing up, Zimmer loved baseball and played as a catcher until 1953, when he was drafted into the army. During his US Army military service Zimmer was assigned to participate in the nuclear testing in Nevada, where he was stationed at Camp Desert Rock and observed numerous atomic explosions. It was during this time that Zimmer discovered a copy of The Pocket Book of Modern Verse and decided that he would begin writing poetry. In 1967 Zimmer was hired as Associate Director of the Pittsburgh University Press where he oversaw the United States Award sponsored by the International Poetry Forum and later at other presses oversaw the beginning of at least two other poetry series. It was during this time that Zimmer published his first collections of poetry: The Ribs of Death (1967), The Republic of Many Voices (1969) and The Zimmer Poems (1976). In 1979 Zimmer moved to Georgia to assume directorship of the University of Georgia Press. During his short time at Georgia Zimmer published four more poetry collections: With Wanda: Town and Country Poems (1980), Ancient Wars (1981), Family Reunion: Selected and New Poems (1983) and Earthbound Zimmer (1983). While at Georgia, Zimmer made the acquaintance of Stanley Lindberg of the Georgia Review. Just five years after arriving in Georgia, Zimmer was hired as the director of the University of Iowa Press, where he continued until his retirement in 1994. Iowa was an up-and-coming press and when Zimmer arrived the output was around eight to ten books per year. By the time he left, the press was publishing over 30 volumes every year. In 1994 Zimmer retired from the book business and now lives in Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin with his wife Suzanne. They live in a small house on 117 acres of woods and meadows. They also spend some months of each year in the south of France. Zimmer still writes for several hours every morning, takes long walks in the woods and listens to jazz, a life-long passion he discovered at the age of 11. University of Rochester, River Campus Libraries, Department of Rare Books, Special Collections and Preservation - Paul J. Zimmer Papers http://www.library.rochester.edu/index.cfm?page=3985 (Retrieved June 23, 2009)
From the description of James William Cantrell manuscript, 1966, 1983. (University of Georgia). WorldCat record id: 406518686
