Henry Saul Zolinsky (1901–2001) was an American Objectivist poet and friend of

Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer-editor, who, after early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), defected from the Soviet underground (1938), ...

Meyer Schapiro Meyer Schapiro (23 September 1904 – 3 March 1996) was a Lithuanian-born American art historian known for developing new art historical methodologies that incorporated an interdisciplinary approach to the study of works of art. An expert on earl ...

Louis Zukofsky Louis Zukofsky (January 23, 1904 – May 12, 1978) was an American poet. He was the primary instigator and theorist of the so-called "Objectivist" poets, a short lived collective of poets who after several decades of obscurity would reemerge a ...

, and

Samuel Roth Samuel Roth (1893–1974) was an American publisher and writer. Described as an "all-around schemer", he was the plaintiff in ''Roth v. United States'' (1957). The case was a Supreme Court ruling on freedom of sexual expression and whose minor ...

Background

Henry Saul Zolinsky was born in 1901. His parents were Nathan Edward Zolinsky and Rosa Gleich. Zolinsky studied at the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

(now often known as "CCNY") in the early 1920s. In early June 1923, Zolinsky interrupted his college studies to sail by ship with friend

for Rotterdam and a tour of Europe. In later June,

sailed over to Bremerhaven; the three met in Berlin and traveled together.

Career

At City College, Zolinsky was an editor of ''The Lavender'', student poetry magazine. His circle of friends extended to other student poets and writers, including many from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and

. He published Zukofsky in ''The Lavender''. In 1929, Henry Zolinsky was working for the bookstore of

in New York City. On October 4, 1929, John Saxton Sumner, head of the

New York Society for the Suppression of Vice The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice (NYSSV or SSV) was an institution dedicated to supervising the morality of the public, founded in 1873. Its specific mission was to monitor compliance with state laws and work with the courts and di ...

or "NYSVV" (chartered by the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...

), raided a warehouse of the Golden Hind Press (owned by Samuel Roth) in

Wilkes-Barre Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the secon ...

, Pennsylvania. The warehouse held copies of ''

Ulysses Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysse ...

'', ''

Lady Chatterley's Lover ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' is the last novel by English author D. H. Lawrence, which was first published privately in 1928, in Italy, and in 1929, in France. An unexpurgated edition was not published openly in the United Kingdom until 1960, w ...

'', ''

Fanny Hill ''Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure''—popularly known as ''Fanny Hill''—is an erotic novel by English novelist John Cleland first published in London in 1748. Written while the author was in debtors' prison in London,Wagner, "Introduction", ...

'', and others–at the time, all considered pornographic under current U.S. law. Legally, the NYSVV could not tie Roth to the warehouse, but they could and did tie Zolinsky and Roth's brother Max Roth, who were arrested at the warehouse (a distribution point near New York City). Zolinsky spent several months in jail. Zolinsky and another employee named Julius Moss also managed a bank account each for Samuel Roth in the name of "Richard Ross" so the Roth could hide profits. In late 1929 or 1930, Zolinsky, his wife, and newborn daughter came to live in Lynbrook, Long Island, with Whittaker Chambers at the home of his mother, Laha Chambers. In December 1931, Zolinsky's name appeared with those of his college friends (among them, Zukofsky and Chambers) in the famous December 1931 "Objectivist" issue of ''

Poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

'' magazine. In 1940, Zolinsky's name appears in the U.S. Census as 36 years old, living in New York City with wife Mary Jane Zolinsky (32) and daughter Nancy Zolinsky (10), and earning his living as a school teacher (as did his long-time friend Zukofsky).

Personal and death

Around 1929, Zolinsky married Mary Elizabeth Nolan: they had a daughter Nancy that year. Zolinsky and his wife are buried as "Henry Zolan" and "Mary Elizabeth Nolan Zolan" at the Bennett Valley Cemetery in

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area ...

Awards

* 1926: Glascock Poetry Prize

Works (Poetry)

* "Pain" in ''Poetry'' (December 1921) * "Will Power" in ''Poetry'' (December 1921) * "Feeling" in ''Poetry'' (December 1923) * "Sorrow and Joy" in ''Poetry'' (December 1923) * "Horatio" in ''Poetry'' (December 1931)

References