Larry RUBIN

RUBIN, Larry "When they call you from the grave, you must swim upward, using a winding stroke." These opening lines by Professor Larry J Rubin, poet and English professor for forty years, began his poem, "Instructions for Dying", which won the Poetry Society of America's Reynolds Lyric Award in 1961. He died on June 26, 2018 at age 88 in Decatur, GA. Reared in Miami Beach, he came to Atlanta in 1950 to attend Emory University where he earned his Ph.D. in 1956 and began his long academic career as an English professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Rubin had already published numerous poems when his first volume of poetry, The World's Old Way, appeared in 1962 and won the Georgia Writers Association's Literary Achievement Award. The Dixie Council of Authors and Journalists named him Georgia Poet of the Year in 1967 for his next volume, Lanced in Light and again in 1975 for All My Mirrors Lie, his third book, which includes "The Bachelor, as Professor," for which Rubin received an annual lyric award from the Poetry Society of America in 1973. Unanswered Calls, Rubin's fourth book, appeared in 1997 and included an introduction by his friend and colleague, poet and novelist, James Dickey, who described him "as a powerful creative current running beneath the surface of American lifeand fortunate are those among us who have the intelligent sensibility to connect with him." He is survived by his niece, Lisa Popkin Loomis of Sandy Springs, GA (Steve Loomis, and children, David Welch and Lindsey Peterson), nephew, Michael Popkin, of Sandy Springs, GA (Melody Fulford Popkin, and children Megan Popkin Woolbright and Benjamin Popkin). Dr. Popkin, founder and president of Active Parenting Publishers, is also a writer and attributes much of his success to his uncle's encouragement and feedback. "Larry loved teaching as much as he did writing," said Dr. Popkin, "and he was awfully good at both. His other passion was travel, alternating between summer trips to Europe and across the US. He always came back with a stash of new poems that he kept crammed in his shirt pocket, and shared for our enjoyment and feedback before sending them out to the literary journals. It was great having him as our "bachelor uncle" and he will be fondly remembered for the person he was, and the poetry that he wrote." A memorial service including the sharing of some of his best-loved poems will be held on Friday, September 21, in The Little Chapel at Emory (1660 N Decatur Rd, Atlanta, GA 30307 At 2:00 PM.