Jim Cory, prolific author, poet, and editor, has died at 71

Jim Cory, 71, of Philadelphia, prolific author, poet, editor, mentor, and social activist, died Saturday, Oct. 12, of cancer at his home in Center City.

Mr. Cory wrote hundreds of poems, essays, book reviews, and stories, many of them about gay life in Philadelphia, for Apiary magazine, Painted Bride Quarterly, New Haven Review, Gay & Lesbian Review, and other publications. He wrote at least 10 books, including 25 Short Poems in 2016 and Birds & Buildings in 2019.

His latest book, the 280-page Why Is That Goddamned Radio On?, was published in October and features essays and short stories about gay life, bird-watching, music, and other topics. Colleagues called the book “friendly, literate, raunchy, and surprising” and “witty, slyly humorous, and unfailingly urbane.”

He was a member of the National Book Critics Circle and reviewed poetry books for The Inquirer and other newspapers. He edited anthologies of poets and writers and established a poetry publishing cooperative, Insight To Riot Press, in the 1990s.

“Dull poetry can bore like no other form of literature,” he wrote in a 2019 book review for the New Haven Review. “Great poetry, on the other hand, can electrify, which is why, like music, we return to it often.”

He worked for Chilton and Hanley Wood publishers, and was a senior editor at Hardware Age and Remodeling magazines. He mentored everyone who asked for advice, colleagues said, and one said in an online tribute: “He always made me feel like I mattered and could be at ease.”

He wrote editorial opinion pieces for The Inquirer in the 1980s and was featured in Inquirer Magazine in a 2001 story about his own home remodeling project. He wrote recently online about his battle with cancer for Sensitive Skin magazine.

Mr. Cory won a Jesse Neal Award for journalism and the 2010 Ronald Wardall Poetry Prize from Rain Mountain Press. He earned a writing grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and fellowships at the Yaddo artists retreat in New York and the MacDowell arts organization in New Hampshire.

He read his poems to local listeners at the Pen & Pencil Club, Painted Bride Arts Center, Walt Whitman Cultural Arts Center, Giovanni’s Room, and other venues. He was rarely without a notebook and pen, colleagues said, with which he jotted notes and observations that became poems.

“Along the way, I became less interested in the poem as a vehicle for ‘my story’ and more interested in the poem as something to delight and surprise the reader, intellectually and emotionally,” he told the William Way LGBT Community Center in an online profile.

He wrote letters to the editor of The Inquirer about injustice and marched in the streets for peace, LGBTQ rights, and labor equity. The first line of his 2016 poem “No fool like” is: “When the human ‘world’ comes to resemble a shoe store for clay feet, go where no one willingly will, into the dustbin of mystery, a cozy spot where there’s no oxygen but plenty of forgotten music.”

James Michael Cory was born Sept. 7, 1953, in Oklahoma City, Okla. His family moved often when he was young and settled in Radnor in 1970. He first wrote poems in elementary school and published his first poem at 20. “He was academic and scholarly,” his younger brother Stephen said.

His graduated from Radnor High School in 1971 and earned a bachelor’s degree in history and Russian literature at Pennsylvania State University in 1975. He was on the dean’s list and debate team in college.

“He had a curiosity to learn about everything and, in an undemanding way, actively engaged with everyone,” said longtime friend Bill Scott. “I was in awe of his curiosity and kindness.”

Mr. Cory collected art, went to all kinds of concerts, and especially enjoyed the music of Sarah Vaughan, Peggy Lee, and Janis Joplin. He was interested in history, bird-watching, and architecture.

He doted on his cats and liked to drink coffee and sit with friends in Fitler and Rittenhouse Squares. He had an amazing recall for names and details.

“He was serious and thoughtful,” his brother said. “He had a hugely engaging sense of humor and was a pioneer at breaking things out.”

In addition to his brother, Mr. Cory is survived by three other brothers, a sister, and other relatives. Two sisters died earlier.

A celebration of his life is to be held at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, at the Philadelphia Ethical Society, 1906 Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, Pa. 19103.

Donations in his name may be made to the William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19107.