DAVID AXELROD

AXELROD--Dr. David. Dr. David Bruce Axelrod, Volusia County, Florida's poet laureate, Suffolk County, New York's past poet laureate, author of 25 poetry books and one biography, a two-time Fulbright Scholar, mentor to countless poets, founder of two nonprofits and multiple businesses, father of four, and a college English professor, died on November 30, 2024. He was 81. He passed away peacefully at home in Daytona Beach after entering palliative care following a stroke, according to his son, Dr. Daniel E. Axelrod. Al Rocheleau, past president of the Florida State Poets Association, described Dr. David Axelrod as a "populist poet" who wrote about universal subject matter in a clear, simple style employing subtle figurative features. Often biographical and anecdotal, his poetry highlighted life's comedy, irony, and absurdity while spotlighting family, relationships, friends, current events, politics, places, and poetry itself. "Whether Axelrod is reliving a moment of pleasure or a time of bitterness and pain, the truth of his poetry is like life itself--compelling," the late Louis Simpson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, wrote for one of Dr. Axelrod's chapbook cover blurbs. A native of Beverly, Massachusetts, and a long-time resident of Rocky Point and Selden, New York, Dr. Axelrod moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, in 2010 after teaching English and creative writing at SUNY Suffolk from 1969 to 2009. He earned a B.A. in English from UMass Amherst (1965), an M.A. in literature from the Johns Hopkins University Writers Seminars (1966), a poetry M.F.A. from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshops (1968), and a Ph.D. in Writing Arts, Literature Program Design & Administration from Union Institute and University in Cincinnati, Ohio (1977). The New York Times, Newsday and Daytona Beach News-Journal periodically spotlighted Dr. Axelrod's poetry readings, comedy shows, seminars, festivals and youth poetry programs, which he organized and sponsored with his two nonprofits, Writers Unlimited Agency and Creative Happiness Institute. In Florida, Volusia County's legislature named Dr. Axelrod poet laureate in 2014, a post he co-held till his death with poet M.B. McLatchey. That same year, Dr. Axelrod successfully lobbied for a Florida law resurrecting a statewide poet laureate post. And he served as poet laureate for Suffolk County's 1.5 million New Yorkers from 2007 to 2009. Dr. Axelrod won numerous grants and awards, including two Fulbright honors to be a poet-in-residence in the former Yugoslavia (1989) and China (1993), plus a Florida Book Awards Gold Medal as co-author of the 2014 feminist biography "Merlin Stone Remembered" (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2014). In his spare time, Dr. Axelrod fixed antique cars, renovated houses to make rental properties, served as North Shore Beach Club president in Rocky Point, New York, and began an independent imprint, Writers Ink Press, that published over 50 poetry books. Dr. Axelrod was also a lifelong student of comparative religion. A Taoist temple in Wudang, China, named him an honorary Daoist priest, and he completed a Qigong master training. Dr. Axelrod is survived by his daughter Jessica E. Robinson (nee Axelrod), an artist and professional psychic; her husband Curt Robinson and their daughters Zoe and Katrina Robinson, all of Lindenhurst, New York; Dr. Axelrod's daughter Emily E. Axelrod, a college English professor and poet of Gillette, New Jersey, and her son Dustin Hartwick; Dr. Axelrod's son Dr. Daniel E. Axelrod, a journalism professor, and his wife Kedrin Martinez Augustin of Pembroke Pines, Florida; and Dr. David Axelrod's daughter Dr. Aileen C. Axelrod, a PharmD recipient from LIU-Brooklyn, of Daytona Beach. Dr. David Axelrod is also survived by his long-time partner, Kate Muldoon of Daytona Beach; his first wife Joan Axelrod (nee Joan Carole "J.C." Hand) of Rocky Point, New York, a poet, novelist and professor of creative and expository writing; his second wife Suk-Hang Chin of Hong Kong; and brother Donald Axelrod and his wife Irene of Lynn, Massachusetts. Dr. Axelrod is predeceased by his third wife, Sandra "Sandy" Martin (nee Dykhouse), and Dr. Axelrod's parents, Sam Axelrod, an auto mechanic and a factory supervisor, and Irene Axelrod (nee Kransberg), an artist. In 2022, Dr. Axelrod told the magazine Of Poets & Poetry that writing, teaching, and performing poetry should be joyful, love-filled endeavors that promote healing, happiness and wellness. "Teaching -- teaching poetry in particular -- truly beats work," Dr. Axelrod added. "They pretended to pay me, and I pretended to work. All these years that has worked out very well." Dr. Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan and Rabbi Adam Fischer of the Long Island Poetry and Literature Repository will host a tribute for Dr. Axelrod from 2pm to 4pm, March 30, at the Emma S. Clark Memorial Library at 120 Main Street, Setauket, NY, 11733.