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James A. "Jim" Coleman

9/17/1941 - 10/28/2023

James A. "Jim" Coleman obituary, 9/17/1941-10/28/2023, Norwich, CT

BORN

9/17/1941

DIED

10/28/2023

FUNERAL HOME

Gagne-Piechowski Funeral Home

490 Voluntown Rd

Jewett City, Connecticut

James Coleman Obituary

Norwich - James A. "Jim" Coleman, beloved husband, father and son, teacher, writer and a friend to writers, a Norwich resident for 50 years, has died, Oct. 28, 2023, age 82. He is survived by his wife, Helen, of 60 years and their four children: James, Daniel (Sheri Matylewicz, deceased), Sheilah Kennard (Joseph Kennard), and Leo (David Petrain); and by five grandchildren: Weston, Laurie, Shiloh, Jude and Sascha.

Jim taught literature and writing at Mohegan Community College, now Three Rivers Community College, from 1973-1999. He came to Mohegan from Olivet College in Michigan, where he taught from 1966-1973.

Jim was born in Detroit, to parents of Irish and German heritage, and as a young man he took great joy in racing Alfa Romeos and Jaguars in local events. Inspired by his own father's experiences as a pinstriper in the Detroit auto industry, he became a dedicated union activist in his own professional career. He was the first in his family to get a college and graduate education, and he will always be remembered by his family for loving cars almost as much as he loved reading and teaching and writing.

Former students in both Michigan and Connecticut remember him with gratitude and affection. At Olivet College in 1970, he and his creative writing students founded The Garfield Lake Review, a publication of poetry and prose named for a famed drinking hole, which continues to publish. Olivet honors a student each year with the Jim Coleman prize in writing. Under the presidency of Robert N. Rue at Mohegan Community College in the 1970s, Jim with his student Walter Nott created The Red Fox Review, a magazine of student writing.

Students remember Jim as a teacher who listened to them and put books in their hands. He was honored with local and state awards throughout his career. He regularly hosted writers of national acclaim at Three Rivers, having them read and work with his classes, including Robert Bly, Marilyn Nelson, Etheridge Knight, Margaret Gibson, William Meredith, F. D. Reeve and James Wright.

In retirement, Jim ran a popular reading series at the Hygienic in New London. As a writer, Jim won grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Connecticut Commission on the Arts. He was a careful craftsman of his own prose and a keen observer of working- and middle-class America in his fiction. He was dedicated to the creation and advancement of a more just and equitable society through education and the imagination. His generosity to others was matched by his kindness. Jim was a faithful and empathetic friend who will be missed by all who loved him.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 19 Jay Street, New London. The Gagne Piechowski Funeral Home, 490 Voluntown Road, Jewett City, has been entrusted with the arrangements. For online condolences, please go www.gagnefuneralhome.com. Memorial donations may be made to CT Foodshare (https://donate.ctfoodshare.org/) or International Rescue Committee (https://help.rescue.org/).

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Day on Nov. 1, 2023.

Memories and Condolences
for James Coleman

Sponsored by Gagne-Piechowski Funeral Home.

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Fred Alletto

October 18, 2024

I had the honor of being a student of Jim at Three Rivers. I've always have been a student of literature and Jim recognized this in me and encouraged me to make me aware and future my love for literature. Jim opened my eyes that it's perfectly fine to critical thinking about great works. Indeed, I remember when we were studying Hemingway's works, which I adored, but Jim thought Hemingway "old fashioned". He was right. I will miss this great teacher.

Rick Wrigley

January 18, 2024

One of the best teachers I ever had, and a most pleasant fellow besides.

Kate Rushin

January 17, 2024

Shocked to learn of the passing of this kind and generous man. Thank you, Jim, for all of your support. peace. poetry.

Sue Ellen Thompson

November 8, 2023

As a young(ish) local poet from Mystic many years ago, I was thrilled to have Jim publish some of my poems in Re Fox Review. He would also seek me out at readings, etc. to chat about poetry and ask how my writing was coming along. He was a supportive, friendly presence in my life during those years when support was crucial.

John Surowiecki

November 4, 2023

Jim,
I speak for every poet and writer in Connecticut. Thank you for everything.

Rick Wrigley

November 3, 2023

One of the best teachers I ever had, and a wonderful guy.

Group of 10 Memorial Trees

James E. Copeland and Family

Planted Trees

Thomas C. Kelly

November 1, 2023

I am heartbroken at the news of Jim's passing. Like so many of his students, I owe much to his patience, kindness, and powerful and positive influence. My life, and the lives of so many of the students who roamed the hallways in the heydays of Mohegan Community College, would not be nearly so rich were it not for knowing Jim. His devotion and dedication to the world of prose and poetry and his commitment to disparate voices for whom he found an audience offered a warm embrace to the larger community of our little corner of the world. I feel especially grateful for the abiding support he offered me as I began my teaching career and as I struggled to put pen to paper. His strong voice belied his soft-spoken manner. I will miss him, but I can hear him in the words of Whitman saying, "Missing me one place search another,/I stop somewhere waiting for you." I love you, Jim, and will keep searching.

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Memorial Events
for James Coleman

Nov

4

Memorial service

1:00 p.m.

All Souls Unitarian Universalist Congregation

19 Jay Street, New London, CT 06320

Funeral services provided by:

Gagne-Piechowski Funeral Home

490 Voluntown Rd, Jewett City, CT 06351

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