Joyce La Mers (1920 – October 2013) was an American writer of

light poetry Light poetry or light verse is poetry that attempts to be humorous. Light poems are usually brief, can be on a frivolous or serious subject, and often feature word play including puns, adventurous rhyme, and heavy alliteration. Typically, light ...

Biography

La Mers was born Joyce Duncan in

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...

in 1920, the third child and only daughter of a successful livestock dealer. The Duncan family was devastated during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, losing the family farm, and moved to

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

in 1938. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

La Mers dropped out of

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...

, where she was pursuing a degree in journalism, and later married her boyfriend Tom Carlile. She worked as a homemaker and mother to the couple's two children until their divorce 17 years later, and subsequently got a job as a secretary and then as a copy writer at an advertising firm. Her 1960, marriage to her second husband, design engineer Herbert La Mers, produced one daughter, and lasted until his death in 2003. La Mers published her first poem in '' The Southern Churchman'' when she was seven years old. Since then her poetry has appeared in ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

'', ''

Collier's ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Collie ...

'', '' Light Quarterly'', and several anthologies. Her work, usually humorous and always metrical, has been characterized as "a marriage of

Dorothy Parker Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist based in New York; she was known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. From a conflicted and unhap ...

and

Ogden Nash Frederic Ogden Nash (August 19, 1902 – May 19, 1971) was an American poet well known for his light verse, of which he wrote over 500 pieces. With his unconventional rhyming schemes, he was declared by ''The New York Times'' the country's best ...

". In 2007 she pledged half a million dollars to ''Light Quarterly'', then the US's only literary magazine devoted to light verse, to ensure its continued publication. The terms of the gift resulted in the establishment of a non-profit organization, the Foundation for Light Verse, which now publishes the magazine. La Mers, a great-grandmother and 40-year resident of

Oxnard, California Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...

, continued to publish and give public readings of her poetry up until her death in 2013. In 2013 she was honoured as a "Literary Treasure" by the government of

Ventura County Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises the Oxnar ...

Selected works

*''A Christmas Collection'' (July Literary Press, 2001) *''The Muse Strikes Back'' (Story Line Press, 1997) *''Grandma Rationalizes an Enthusiasm for Skydiving'' (Mille Grazie Press, 1996)

References

External links

The Creative Community: Joyce La Mers
(interview taped on March 3, 2010)
Joyce La Mers
at the Poets and Writers Directory of Writers {{DEFAULTSORT:La Mers, Joyce 1920 births 2013 deaths Poets from Montana Poets from California American women poets 20th-century American poets 20th-century American women writers California State University, Fresno alumni 21st-century American women