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Joyce Kilmer was a man!

I knew that!

12 votes

I didn't know that!

5 votes

Who's Joyce Kilmer?

6 votes

Benjamin Grimm Apr 01 2010 07:07 PM

Joyce Kilmer was a man!

Swan Swan H Apr 01 2010 07:19 PM Re: Joyce Kilmer was a man!

Ah, yes, the namesake of the last rest stop before the Outerbridge Crossing, and the inspiration for one of my favorite Mad Magazine spoofs: I think that I shall never hear A poem lovelier than beer. The stuff that Joe’s Bar has on tap, With golden base and snowy cap; The foamy stuff I drink all day Until my memory melts away. Poems are made by fools, I fear… But only Schlitz can make a beer.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Apr 01 2010 07:26 PM Re: Joyce Kilmer was a man!

A man with literate but apparently hateful parents. (Although I only just found this out, say, a year or two ago.)

Frayed Knot Apr 01 2010 07:39 PM Re: Joyce Kilmer was a man!

I've known it for years. Evelyn Waugh told me.

Gwreck Apr 01 2010 10:12 PM Re: Joyce Kilmer was a man!

I learned this while coming home from a Springsteen concert in Philadelphia. Bored while waiting for someone to get out of the bathroom, I went over and read the dedication plaque. I was as surprised as you are!

MFS62 Apr 02 2010 07:10 AM Re: Joyce Kilmer was a man!

I knew he was. There is a limit on how many rest stops New Jersey can name after a woman. Later

Benjamin Grimm Apr 02 2010 07:27 AM Re: Joyce Kilmer was a man!

This has totally rocked my world. (Okay, I'm exaggerating, but still...) Since I was a kid, I've been aware of Joyce Kilmer, and all I knew about [crossout]her[/crossout] him was that [crossout]she[/crossout] he wrote the lines "I think that I shall never see/A poem as lovely as a tree." We stop at the Joyce Kilmer rest area to empty and refill our bladders every time we drive to Long Island to visit relatives or to Flushing to see the Mets. And whenever I'd see Joyce Kilmer's name above the entrance, I'd picture a Victorian woman, sitting in a garden, writing poems about her tree. Now I learn that Kilmer was actually Alfred Joyce Kilmer, and not only was he not a woman, he was a World War I soldier who was killed in battle in Europe at the age of 31. I feel off balance, like I have an inner ear infection. I have to wonder, though, why somebody named "Alfred Joyce" would choose to be known by his middle name. I know "Alfred" isn't the most cool name, like Tyler or Troy or Zach, but it's a lot better than Joyce! I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth's sweet flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain. Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree.

metirish Apr 02 2010 07:31 AM Re: Joyce Kilmer was a man!

I never heard of this person but it's been fun reading the bio.

Frayed Knot Apr 02 2010 07:55 AM Re: Joyce Kilmer was a man!

[quote="Benjamin Grimm":1282m4y7]I have to wonder, though, why somebody named "Alfred Joyce" would choose to be known by his middle name. I know "Alfred" isn't the most cool name, like Tyler or Troy or Zach, but it's a lot better than Joyce![/quote:1282m4y7] The British novelist Evelyn Waugh who I joked about up top was formally Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh who chose to go by Evelyn for some reason, possibly because he was the son of an Arthur. The best part is that he was for a short time married to a woman named Evelyn, leaving friends to reference them as he-Evelyn and she-Evelyn

DocTee Apr 02 2010 08:29 AM Re: Joyce Kilmer was a man!

And... he was known as "Poet of the Rainbows" for his affiliation with the Fightin' 69th and the Rainbow Battallion. lots of material here for FMAN

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Apr 02 2010 09:29 AM Re: Joyce Kilmer was a man!

As per good old reliable Wiki, he was named-- the "Joyce" part anyway-- after the rector (Elisha Brooks Joyce) of Christ Church in New Brunswick, where the Kilmer family were parishoners. Papa Kilmer worked as a chemist for Johnson & Johnson and-- get this-- invented their baby powder. (I'd bet that a rest stop named after him would probably be a lot easier on the bum than that of Mr. Speaks-for-the-Trees.)

Ashie62 Apr 04 2010 09:39 AM Re: Joyce Kilmer was a man!

There is a Joyce Kilmer "campus" at Rutgers by the RAC.

Fman99 Apr 04 2010 04:36 PM Re: Joyce Kilmer was a man!

Seriously, am I the only person who saw Cannonball Run?

Fman99 Apr 04 2010 07:23 PM Re: Joyce Kilmer was a man!

[quote="Benjamin Grimm"]This has totally rocked my world. (Okay, I'm exaggerating, but still...) Since I was a kid, I've been aware of Joyce Kilmer, and all I knew about [crossout]her[/crossout] him was that [crossout]she[/crossout] he wrote the lines "I think that I shall never see/A poem as lovely as a tree." We stop at the Joyce Kilmer rest area to empty and refill our bladders every time we drive to Long Island to visit relatives or to Flushing to see the Mets. And whenever I'd see Joyce Kilmer's name above the entrance, I'd picture a Victorian woman, sitting in a garden, writing poems about her tree. Now I learn that Kilmer was actually Alfred Joyce Kilmer, and not only was he not a woman, he was a World War I soldier who was killed in battle in Europe at the age of 31. I feel off balance, like I have an inner ear infection. I have to wonder, though, why somebody named "Alfred Joyce" would choose to be known by his middle name. I know "Alfred" isn't the most cool name, like Tyler or Troy or Zach, but it's a lot better than Joyce! I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth's sweet flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain. Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree.

Nice pair of tits on this poem.