Philip Appleman Has Died

I just discovered that Philip D. Appleman (1926 – 2020) died last year. He was an American poet and Professor Emeritus at Indiana University. I first became acquainted with him in graduate school when I read his edited collection, Darwin (Norton Critical Editions), a classic in the field. He was survived by Majorie, his wife of almost 67 years, but she died earlier this year.

I have written previously about his poetry and his work on the meaning of life. I also summarized his book on Darwin and the meaning of life here, here, and here. And I reprinted his poem about his mother’s death here. (It is so intelligent and passionate.) And below is an especially moving tribute to him.

In Memoriam: Philip Appleman, 1926-2020

Finally, here he is on

I’ll have a bit more about Appleman in my next post.

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One thought on “Philip Appleman Has Died

  1. A lovely human being who will be missed. Like many of us on a search for meaning, he seems to have have arrived back where started–finding his bliss in the woman laying next to him for all those years–this, and of course his journey made life for him worthwhile. R.I.P. Thanks for sharing this Moyer’s clip.

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