Bern Porter
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Bernard Harden "Bern" Porter (February 14, 1911–June 7, 2004) was an American artist, writer, publisher, performer, and scientist.
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[edit] Biography
He was born in Maine and studied at Colby College and Brown University. He spent the last decades of his life living in Belfast, Maine.
[edit] As artist
Porter is best known for his "founds", which he has published in numerous collections including Found Poems, The Wastemaker, The Book of Do's, Dieresis, Here Comes Everybody's Don't Book, and Sweet End. Publishers of these works included Something Else Press, The Village Print Shop, and Tilbury House.
Late in his life a series of short books and pamphlets by Porter were published by Roger Jackson Publishers in Ann Arbor, including The World of Bern, a collaboration with Louise R. Roarty.
[edit] As publisher
From 1944 to 1948, Porter and George Leite co-published a West Coast literary and artistic magazine called Circle.
In 1946 Porter published Kenneth Patchen's Panels for the Walls of Heaven, an edition of 750 copies. In addition, 150 copies were reserved as an edition of painted books, uniquely decorated, signed and numbered by Patchen.
Porter's imprint Bern Porter Books is best known for publishing the first editions of several works by Henry Miller. He was Miller's first publisher in the United States.
[edit] As scientist
Prior to World War II, Porter contributed to the development of the cathode ray tube.
During World War II, Porter worked on the Manhattan Project. He worked in Oak Ridge, Tennessee on the part of the project devoted to the separation of the highly enriched uranium needed to construct atomic bombs. After bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Porter regretted his involvement with the project[citation needed] and became an outspoken pacifist.
In the 1960's, Porter worked on NASA's Saturn V manned rocket program.
[edit] Further reading
- Bern Porter, I've Left (contains Porter's ideas about science and art)
- James Schevill, Where to Go, What to Do, When You Are Bern Porter: A Personal Biography (Tilbury House Publishing)
