Palm Beach Poetry Festival founder Miles Coon dies at 84
Miles Coon, of Palm Beach, the founder of the Palm Beach Poetry Festival, died Saturday, May 21, 2022, poetry festival officials recently announced. He was 84 years old.
He died following a long battle with polycythemia vera, a type of blood cancer, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1938, he grew up in Great Neck, N.Y., and received his bachelor of arts degree with highest honors in philosophy and economics from the University of Virginia in 1959.
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He went on to study law at Harvard Law School, and following his graduation in 1962 he took the N.Y. State Bar exam and then served for six months on active duty in the Army reserves as a medical corpsman.
From 1963 until 1966, he worked as a trial attorney for the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, and for a few years thereafter as one of four partners in a New York City law firm that he established, specializing in securities law. He went on to work in a family business, Red Wing Products Inc., which made clothes hangers and other supplies for retail stores, first as vice president and eventually as president upon his father Herb’s retirement.
He received an master of fine arts degree from Sarah Lawrence in 2003 and, thereafter, his poems appeared widely in many poetry journals and magazines.
In 2005, he founded the Palm Beach Poetry Festival, serving as its president, chairman and festival director until June 30, 2014.
During that period, the festival grew from a weekend event featuring four poets to the weeklong series of events featuring 14 poets and eight or nine workshops with participants enrolled from all over the world.
His debut book of poetry, "The Quotient of My Self Divided by Myself" is slated to be published soon by Press 53. His chapbook, ''Homeland Security,'' was published by Jeanne Duval Editions in 2005.
He is survived by his wife, Mimi; a son, Matthew; a daughter, Jennifer; and a grandson, Elias. A private burial service took place and a memorial service is being planned for sometime in the weeks or months to come.
Andrew J. Davis is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at adavis@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Miles Coon dies: Palm Beach Poetry Festival founder was 84
