Former Times Press editor, poet dies

By Marilyn Miller
Beacon Journal staff writer

Akron-area poet and author Miriam Wise Andrews grew up with an interest in literature.

She was a former editor at an Akron newspaper and a national magazine.

``She always had a book in her hand growing up. I remember her teaching me about poetry and literature when she was only 11,'' said sister Esther Wise Crooks of Mogadore.

``She always made it so interesting,'' said sister Ardath Wise of Mogadore. ``I think she did a lot to cause us to enjoy poetry to this day.''

Mrs. Andrews, author of two books, died Wednesday at Altercare of Hartville. She was 96.

Mrs. Andrews was born in Bath, but grew up in Mogadore. She was the oldest of eight children (five girls and three boys). She graduated from Mogadore High School and attended Oberlin College and the University of Akron.

Mrs. Andrews was the editor of a reader participation poetry column called the Silver Braid at the Akron Times Press, which was a predecessor of the Akron Beacon Journal.

During the 1970s, she was executive editor of Poet Lore, a national poetry quarterly. She also wrote her own poetry, which mostly appeared in magazines such as the Saturday Review.

She left the area in the 1940s. She first moved to New York City and, as she wrote, she also managed an Akron singer. She moved to Washington, D.C., and wrote to promote the Children's Federation. It was there that she met her husband, John Andrews, an attorney who was also a writer. The couple moved to Vermont, where they both wrote and conducted poetry seminars.

She published two books with her poetry collections: Fifty Poems and Mary Shiminski I Love You.

Her first book was dedicated to her mother; the last, to her husband. They were married 25 years. They had no children.

After his death, she moved back to the Akron area in 2000. She built a home on the family property in Mogadore, not far from the home she grew up in.

Ardath Wise said her sister was inspired to write her second book by a young man who wrote ``Mary Shiminski I Love You'' on a bridge on the highway. ``She stopped to talk to the young man as he was writing it, then wrote a poem of the man's undying love for the woman.'' The book bears the picture of the graffiti on its cover.

On the back of the book, critics termed her poetry as ``A festival of life. It is an art form that celebrates all experiences -- even the most tragic, meaningful and hopeful. It takes us into the magical.''

Crooks said her sister was multitalented. ```She was very good at playing the violin and playing chess, but people were her hobby. She was a wonderful conversationalist, and really good with people.''

[Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, OH,Saturday, December 3, 2005, pag B6, col. 1]