Anthony Madrid on Paul Waterman's Limericks

Paris Review hosts another deep dive by Anthony Madrid into the story of poet Paul Waterman, known for his limericks. As Madrid explains, new information has surfaced about Waterman since his previous article: "[m]y first piece was written at an early stage of the Waterman Renaissance. It’s been three weeks; much has happened." From there: 

As you can see from the photograph above, an image of Waterman has surfaced. He is roughly twenty-three years old in that picture. His dates are now known to be July 3, 1903–February 17, 1987. He went to Cornell on a scholarship. For a great many years he owned a small farm in a town called Maryland, New York. He had a twin brother, John Waterman, whom he outlived by twenty-five years. And he is now known to have published ten books, all of them poetry, all of them printed at his own expense:

Boy for a Blonde (1932)
Cabin for Two (1934)

—twenty-one-year hiatus—

Love to the Town (1955)

—eight-year hiatus—

The Limerick Trilogy:
     Mad Land of Limerick (1963)
     Those Brats from Limerick (1964)
     Five Lines to Limerick (1965)

Four Books of Haiku:
     Wee Wings (1966)
     Brief Candles (1967)
    Whimseys [sic] (1968; second edition 1973)
    Thus and Now (1974)

It should be noted that almost all this information (and a great deal more) has come to light through the efforts of my newest friend, a retired librarian, quite legendary in Wisconsin, named David Lull. Mr. Lull also reports that Cornell University is in possession of Waterman’s undergraduate diaries (1920–1925, and part of 1928). We also happen to know Waterman’s last two mailing addresses, and the names of many of his family members. Also that he is buried in Maple Grove Cemetery in Worcester, New York.

Read on at Paris Review.