Vox Populi
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Michael Simms: Baron Wormser (February 15, 1948 – October 7, 2025)
Dear Friends,
I received an email this morning:
Michael,
Baron left this world before 2:00 this morning. Just letting you know. He will be greatly missed.
Janet Wormser
Baron and I never met face to face, but through our correspondence and my publishing his work in Vox Populi, we developed a relationship that went beyond author and editor and became, at least for my part, a true friendship. I loved his essays for their clear emphatic prose, his unshakable belief in the power of literature, his strong sense of ethics and the weaving of his personal experience with the themes of the books he loved. He believed that great books speak to our current troubled time, and the other arts, film in particular, contain the qualities of great literature: a moral sense that begins in personal integrity and rises to the level of instruction on history and society. He credited his mother with inspiring his love of literature and spoke of Dickinson, Thoreau, Emerson and Twain with affectionate respect.
Although history will have the final word on who among us is read by future generations, I’ll put my money on Baron. His writing represents the best of the American spirit.
Click here for a link to Baron’s poetry and essays in Vox Populi.
Please feel free to share your memories or appreciation for Baron and his work in the comment section below, or send them to me and I will post them under your name.
Michael Simms
Editor, Vox Populi
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Baron was an extraordinary teacher, mentor and human being. Such a gentle soul who lived his commitments. I will miss his presence in the world.
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Thank you, Warren. I share that feeling.
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Of the many comments that have been posted, I think I knew Baron the longest. Baron, Harvey, , Arthur, and I were friends in high school. We played tennis together every weekend on the clay courts in Druid Hill Park in Baltimore. It was a badge of honor to have orange Jack Purcells. Several years later, after not seeing Baron for 15-20 years, my family and I popped in at his home in Norridewock, unannounced. Baron and Janet and their 2 kids at that time were living “off the grid”…no electricity, automated heat, or indoor plumbing. When we knocked on the door, Baron, is his classic type of understatement, just answered the door, and said “Hi Lee”. Late in my career, I wrote to Baron to tell him that I could never consider myself successful until I could be “creative”…i.e., like Baron.
Lee Goodman
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Great anecdote, Lee. Thank you.
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Like Meg Kearney I first met Baron at the Frost Place in the early 1990s whenever our time coincided. He was a great man and I am heartbroken.
Thank you, Michael, for making this gathering place and Dawn Potter for the blog where I first learned of his death.
Frost Place roots run deep.
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It’s nice to see you here, Lynn.
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Like Meg Kearney I met baron in the early 1990s whenever our paths coincided. He was such a great man. I am heartbroken. Thank you Michael for making this gathering. I found out from Dawn Potter’s blog.
The Frost Place runs deep.
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Thank you, Lynn.
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Baron was my teacher, then became my colleague, and then asked me to take over the teaching program he had founded at the Frost Place. He literally gave me my vocation. I would not be myself, without him.
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Dawn, his trust in you was well-founded. You carry his legacy forward.
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I have spent much of today thinking about Baron. We met
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Baron’s final collection, James Baldwin Smoking a Cigarette and Other Poems, will be published on January 13, 2026 by Slant Books. It will be available for pre-order within a couple weeks. In the meantime, you can learn more at Slant’s website: https://slantbooks.org/books/james-baldwin-smoking-a-cigarette-and-other-poems/
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Thanks, Gregory. I’m familiar with some of the poems in Baron’s final collection, and I’m looking forward to seeing the finished book.
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I would be hard pressed to name a kinder, more generous soul in the body of a poet. After Baron reviewed my collection, Sleeping as Fast As I Can for Vox Populi (or rather, in his usual way, he used the book as a seed for his thoughts on morality and society) he asked me about my experience with Slant Books. I am pleased that Slant will be publishing his amazing final collection, James Baldwin Smoking a Cigarette and Other Poems in January and I encourage everyone to preorder from Slantbooks.org. Thank you, Michael, for providing a platform for Baron’s poetry and prose.
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Thanks, Richard.
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Baron was generous with his wisdom, fierce independence, and deep, wide-ranging knowledge. A kind man and inspiring teacher, he was a teacher of mine at Stonecoast, the MFA program connected with the University of Southern Maine. I have followed his work since then, including his many posts on Vox Populi. Most recently, he emailed me in August after his latest book was accepted for publication by Slant Books, which published my book of poems this month. I am sad to learn about his untimely death. May we all celebrate his remarkable life and work.
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Thanks, Bonnie. He was loved by many.
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Syd Lea writes: Yes, Michael, Baron -one of the most fiercely independent and principled minds I have ever known- will be read in the future for his timeless insights. If he is not, neglect will owe itself to all the things he has so eloquently warned us against across the genres: greed, consumerism, self-vaunting, and so on.
Everyone: do be on the lookout for Baron’s last collection, ‘James Baldwin Smoking a Cigarette,’ due from Slant Books in January. I’ve seen it in ms., and for me to say it’s his best book of poetry is to say more than a great deal.
RIP, brave soul, and all condolences to Janet. Yes, he will indeed be greatly missed!
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I am so sorry to hear this news.
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Thanks, Donna.
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A BRIEF BUT TELLING ELEGY
—For Baron Wormser,
Oct. 8, 2025
About the Baron three things I remember,
Three things I will never forget
To remember, to cherish and to honor:
First, his deep, deep love of literature;
Second, his cackling crazy laugh;
Third, his crackling flame-like courage.
Above all, though, I will remember him
As the only man who ever called me Honey.
— George Drew
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Yes, Michael, Bar
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It is with an unfathomably heavy heart that we at CavanKerry Press mourn the loss of beloved author and member of the literary community Baron Wormser. Baron was with CKP from its very inception, serving as “godparent,” mentor, and advocate of the press and each member of the CavanKerry team. He provided his singular insight, invaluable expertise, knowledge of craft, and careful attention to detail to his role as editor for over 25 years, and made every CavanKerry book shine brighter, every reader look deeper. Baron celebrated the intent and artistry of our authors and of writers in general and was cherished by all who knew him for his generosity of spirit and his measured, compassionate approach to the human condition. We are forever grateful for his friendship and love, which are everlasting.
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Thank you for this encomium, Gabriel.
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And thank you for putting this page together for the communal commiseration and celebration of his life.
On a more personal note than my first comment, I learned such a tremendous deal from him simply by observing the way he observed the writing and words of others. Just by being in his presence—virtually, no less!—I became a better writer and more astute at evaluating work myself. And he was always kind and supportive to me, at every turn.
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And thank you for putting this page together for the communal commiseration and celebration of his life.
On a more personal note than my first comment, I learned such a tremendous deal from him simply by observing the way he observed the writing and words of others. Just by being in his presence—virtually, no less!—I became a better writer and more astute at evaluating work myself. And he was always kind and supportive to me, at every turn.
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Thanks for saying this, Gabriel. Baron was an inspiration to many of us.
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Thank you for letting us know. Grateful his words remain.
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Thanks, Barb.
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I also meet Baron at the Frost Place, I think in 1992 (when I also met Bob Cording, Meg, and others who became longtime friends). Baron was such a unique presence, and he taught us all so much about poetry, literature, history, and (often by example) how to live. Plus, he was just fun to be around. Later we were colleagues at the Stonecoast MFA program, and once we co-taught a workshop, which was kind of intimidating for me, since he was so smart… but he was also immensely kind (and a Buddhist!), so it went fine. And I’m sure I learned as much as the students. He will remain a presence for all of us.
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Thanks, Jeffrey. These memories are important to recount.
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Yes, we were there together — at the Frost Place & at Stonecoast in the Stone House in the summer — many years in a row, dear Jeffrey — and what great conversations we had, remember? Baron could be so brilliantly smart, avidly curious, and truly funny! I loved listening to him — learning so much from him, like you!
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I do remember! Even at the time I think we all knew how lucky we were to have one another, and to have Baron as a kind of guide… but now we feel that even more strongly.
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I first met Baron in 1989 at the Frost Place in Franconia, NH. He inspired awe from the start — I have met few great minds to match his — but he also inspired kindness and friendship. It amazed me that he would pay any attention to the young, struggling poet I was back then. And his poems and essays had so much to teach me! (They continue to do so.) Our relationship grew over the years, but I always looked up to him as a mentor-friend. What a huge hole his loss has torn in our world.
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Thank you for this, Meg.
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I started out in my mind like many of us, “I’m so sorry to hear this,” and want to add that I had never met him, but that he and others I admire chose one of my books for small press and I remember being stunned that some one so distinguished would want to see my book published. Since then, I have loved his essays here and their literary know-how and insight into current events, and will now read more of his poetry. We need his voice now and luckily still have it.
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Thanks, Mary.
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The simple words of the email you forwarded made me cry Michael.
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I admired his courage, his ability to see past the surface, his clarity. What a legacy he leaves. Thank you, Michael, for sharing the news of his death and letting us share in celebration of his life.
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Thank you, Rosemerry. He has left a large literary legacy — dozens of books, hundreds of uncollected essays — but his more important gift to us was his belief in the power of poetry to change us from within.
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So sorry to hear this news. I loved what he wrote and always looked forward to a link to a Wormser essay at Vox Populi.
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Thanks, Adam.
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Sorry to know. His writings stay with us.
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Thanks, John. I believe that his essays will continue to be read for a long time.
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Yes, Baron was one of our very best. And he was a good man. He was a virtuous man to use one of George Herbert’s favorite words.
Here’s the last stanza of Herbert’s poem Virtue:
Only a sweet and virtuous soul,
Like season’d timber, never gives;
But though the whole world turn to coal,
Then chiefly lives.
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Thanks, Bob. Baron would have loved those lines as a tribute to him.
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Be at peace and travel well, Baron Wormser. Heartbreaking.
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Thank you, Ralph.
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Oh my. Such a loss. What an unparalleled wit he was. But like an old tree that can longer bloom, his myriad words remain, forever flowering, forever teaching, forever delighting. A living and utterly personal elegy if there ever was one.
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Thanks, Matt. I admired him a great deal.
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I am sorry to see this news. We’re losing many of the good ones right now.
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yes, we are.
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I’m crying at this loss. But encouraged by what he did for the world. His words of understanding…his deep connections…
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You are so right, Jim.
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so sorry to hear, Michael.
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Thanks, Jose. He was an important writer and more importantly, a good man.
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Oh I’m so sorry to hear this. May his memory always be a blessing.
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Thanks, Robbi.
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