The Poetry of Eugene P. Koppin
In Memory
Almost everything about Eugene P. Koppin was ordinary. Most of his 76 years were spent in and around Detroit, Michigan. He became an apprectice electrician the day after he graduated from the eighth grade. For a time he was a foreman for the Ford Motor Company, and during the Depression managed a small factory owned by a family friend. After World War II he returned to the work of an electrician, retiring from the University of Michigan maintenance department around 1965.
Gene Koppin was not, however, an ordinary man. He was an inventor, with over a hundred patents on industrial processes issued to him. He invented a table-top baseball game with the same thrill and excitment, and using some of the same skills, as the real thing. He was the writer and director of the first detective serial on a Detroit radio station in the early 1930's. He had a rich sense of humor and was in demand as a Master of Ceremonies for banquets and special occasions. He played the bass violin in the church orchestra and taught Sunday School class. He took correspondence coursed in English and creative writing and wrote dozens of comedy skits, short stories and plays of every description, some of which were published. After his retirement, he tried his skill at poetry. The result was a refreshing blend of the wit and life experiences of this orinary extraordinary man.
--Lawrence L. Koppin--
