By: Caitlin Bailey '11
Published on
On February 8, 2011, the Contemporary Writers Series will welcome poet Jack Ridl to
the Aquinas campus. His newest collection, Losing Season, depicts the experience of
playing high school basketball in a typical American small town where the inner thoughts
of the coach, players, family, and fans are exposed.
As the son of University of Pittsburgh and Westminster College basketball coach Buzz Ridl, sports played a significant role in Jack’s life. In 2007, Ridl was named one of the 100 most influential sports educators in America by the Institute for International Sports. A lifetime of reflection and participation are brought to the poems in Losing Season.
“None of the poems are autobiographical in the factual sense. All of them are autobiographical in the emotional sense,” said Ridl.
Ridl’s other works include Outside the Center Ring, a collection of circus poems published in 2006, and Against Elegies which was selected for the 2001 Chapbook Award from The Center for Book Arts in New York. Broken Symmetry, a collection of poetry using mathematical themes, was selected by the Society of Midland Authors as the best book of poetry in 2006.
Recently retired from Hope College where he taught for more than 37 years, Ridl has grown close to some of the Aquinas faculty and staff.
“The Aquinas faculty befriended me when I moved to Michigan and began teaching at Hope," said Ridl. "We would see one another at various events, go out after readings. [We] have been cherished friends for a long time.” Ridl and his wife, Julie, founded Hope’s own Visiting Writers Series where he brought in about 150 different writers including Aquinas professor Miriam Pederson and alumna Linda Nemec Foster '72.
The Aquinas College Contemporary Writers Series began in 1997 thanks to a generous grant from Dr. Tony Foster ('73) and his wife Linda Nemec Foster ('72) that allowed well-known authors to be brought to campus for a series of readings. Past authors who have appeared on campus include Stephen Dunn, Joy Harjo, and Kurtis Lamkin.
“We do different genres of what is in literature,” said Pam Luebke, librarian in the Grace Hauenstein Library and a Friend of the Contemporary Writers Series. “It has a good reputation on campus.”
>More About the Contemporary Writers Series
As the son of University of Pittsburgh and Westminster College basketball coach Buzz Ridl, sports played a significant role in Jack’s life. In 2007, Ridl was named one of the 100 most influential sports educators in America by the Institute for International Sports. A lifetime of reflection and participation are brought to the poems in Losing Season.
“None of the poems are autobiographical in the factual sense. All of them are autobiographical in the emotional sense,” said Ridl.
Ridl’s other works include Outside the Center Ring, a collection of circus poems published in 2006, and Against Elegies which was selected for the 2001 Chapbook Award from The Center for Book Arts in New York. Broken Symmetry, a collection of poetry using mathematical themes, was selected by the Society of Midland Authors as the best book of poetry in 2006.
Recently retired from Hope College where he taught for more than 37 years, Ridl has grown close to some of the Aquinas faculty and staff.
“The Aquinas faculty befriended me when I moved to Michigan and began teaching at Hope," said Ridl. "We would see one another at various events, go out after readings. [We] have been cherished friends for a long time.” Ridl and his wife, Julie, founded Hope’s own Visiting Writers Series where he brought in about 150 different writers including Aquinas professor Miriam Pederson and alumna Linda Nemec Foster '72.
The Aquinas College Contemporary Writers Series began in 1997 thanks to a generous grant from Dr. Tony Foster ('73) and his wife Linda Nemec Foster ('72) that allowed well-known authors to be brought to campus for a series of readings. Past authors who have appeared on campus include Stephen Dunn, Joy Harjo, and Kurtis Lamkin.
“We do different genres of what is in literature,” said Pam Luebke, librarian in the Grace Hauenstein Library and a Friend of the Contemporary Writers Series. “It has a good reputation on campus.”
>More About the Contemporary Writers Series