Joseph Simon Newman
Joseph Simon Newman (December 6, 1891 – November 10, 1960) was an American entrepreneur and writer. He was a founder of the Newman-Stern Company,[1][2] and gained renown as a writer of light verse.
Biography
Joseph Newman was born in New London, Ohio, the son of Simon and Hanna Cohn Newman, who then moved to Cleveland. A graduate of Central High School, Newman attended the Case Institute of Technology before withdrawing to go into business. He married Babette Weidenthal, daughter of Cleveland journalist Maurice Weidenthal, in 1913. Two years later, with brother Arthur Samuel Newman and partner Arnold Stern, he founded the Electro-Set Co. to manufacture educational toys, some being his own inventions. The firm soon added sporting goods to its line and became the Newman-Stern Company. Newman meanwhile began writing columns on electricity for the The Plain Dealer and contributing humorous rhymes to Ted Robinson's "Philosopher of Folly" column under the pseudonym, "Prof. Cy N. Tific." A member of the City Club of Cleveland, from 1925-58 he teamed with Carl D. Friebolin to write lyrics (775 in all) for the club's annual Anvil Revue. His first volume of verse, Poems For Penguins, was published in 1941, followed by It Could Be Verse! (1948), Perishable Poems (1952), and Verse Yet! (1959). Following his retirement from business, he began a weekly column for the Cleveland Press in 1952 under the heading "It Could Be Verse." A daily counterpart, "Joe Newman's Frying Pan," was added in 1957. Among many other activities, Newman taught at Cleveland College and served as trustee of The Cleveland Play House. Newman died at the age of 68 in Cleveland, Ohio.[3]
His poem "Black Cross"[4] has been recorded by Bob Dylan[5] on The Minnesota Hotel Tape, 1961 and Lord Buckley[6] on Way Out Humor. His poem "Paradise Almost Lost" was recorded by Biff Rose[7] on The Thorn In Mrs. Rose's Side.
The foreword of It Could Be Verse was written by Louis Untermeyer.
He is the uncle of actor Paul Newman.[8]
Bibliography
- Poems For Penguins and Other Lyrical Lapses. New York: Greenberg, 1941
- It Could Be Verse! Cleveland and New York: The World Publishing Company, 1948
- Perishable Poems. Cleveland and New York: The World Publishing Company, 1952
- Verse Yet! Cleveland and New York: The World Publishing Company, 1959
- One Summer Day Cleveland and New York: The World Publishing Company, 1962 (posthumously)
References
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