This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 28, 2011 - "My life would make for a very commonplace Koenstlerroman," Brian Taylor wrote in an online biography. His life belied this modest assessment of his growth as a man of letters. He was an English teacher, playwright, author and prolific poet who had seen nearly 100 of his poems -- verses peering at life in ways that are clever, whimsical, bold, humorous or poignant -- published in Britain and the United States. Mr. Taylor, a transplanted Englishman, died at his home in downtown St. Louis on March 22, 2011, at age 74.
Koenstlerroman (German for 'artist's novel'), was the kind of word with which Mr. Taylor deliberately peppered his writings.
"His poetry is not for people who want quick answers; it is chock-full of words that make you explore," his son Nick said. "He was a scholar, poet and aesthete. He was a walking encyclopedia."
Nick Taylor said the cause of death was bacteremia, brought on by Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), a group of diseases that affect the bone marrow and blood. A memorial service is being planned for April 17.
Mr. Taylor had been an unusually focused young man who acknowledged and nurtured his fascination with words early. During high school in North Wales, like most lads, he played rugby, but he also began writing poetry. And he never stopped. His immediate and unabashed goal was to be published -- not for self-aggrandizement, but for the demand of a poet's soul to be heard.
"Poets should not mutter into an echo chamber hearing nothing but the sound of their own voice," Mr. Taylor wrote.
'I Wanted to See My Work in Print'
His poetry was first printed in 1961, when he and two of his best friends self-published a six-page, rag-paper pamphlet. They read aloud from their booklet then signed copies of their work and gave it to their audience.
During his lifetime, Mr. Taylor would see his words printed in numerous publications, including the Antioch Review, Breadloaf Quarterly, Cumberland Review, Margie, Missouri Review, Modern Poetry Studies, Natural Bridge, Paris Review, Poetry Northwest, Prairie Schooner, River Styx, Sewanee Review, Sow's Ear Poetry Review, Vocabula Bound, Wildwood Journal, the British Stand, London magazine and Listener. A selection of Mr. Taylor's poems appeared in the anthology "Seeking Saint Louis," published by the Missouri Historical Society in 2000.
He was a River Styx participant and his poetry and gallery reviews appeared in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, the St. Louis Literary Review and Saint Louis Today. His articles on English teaching have appeared in magazines on secondary-school education.
He was awarded the Cholmondeley Award for Poets by the British Society of Authors in 1985, the year London Magazine Editions published "Transit." Mr. Taylor's other literary awards included the Wildwood Poetry Prize for "Fishing in the Rain" in 1994; and he twice won the Wednesday Club of St Louis Poetry Prize.
But awards were never his goal.
"The only prize we (poets) want is to be read and, if the gods are in the mood, to get some good reviews," he wrote.
"I've been writing poems throughout my adult life, and like any poet I came to the point where I wanted to see my work in print," Mr. Taylor wrote. "I am not interested in ephemera; I want a book -- even a slim volume -- to have a certain heft."
He saw that dream fulfilled with the publication of "Transit," a volume of more than 50 poems primarily from the '70s and early '80s. The work was described by the publisher, and not disputed entirely by Mr. Taylor, as autobiographical: "The characters, though appearing in various disguises, remain the writer and the women who beguile and betray him, prompting melodramatic gestures that end in disaster."
Among the women who beguiled him were his two wives. During his early life in France, Mr. Taylor met and married his first wife, Annie Viale. The couple had two daughters, Magali and Delphine. In 1976, Mr. Taylor married Bonnie Black, an actor in the Dean's Players, an experimental theater group that he co-founded at Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis. They had two sons, Nick and Jack. Both marriages ended in divorce, but the connections remained strong. Mr. Taylor wanted it to be known that his former wives "were still among his most trusted friends."
'Lively Person, Teacher and Role Model'
John Brian Taylor was born on Dec.11, 1936, in Bury and grew up in Rawtenstall, Lancashire, England, the oldest child of John and Edith Taylor. He displayed artistic talents even as a child -- painting and model-making -- a portent of his adult creativity that spanned the creative spectrum, from writing to cooking, to home decorating and gardening.
Immediately following high school, Mr. Taylor was conscripted into the Royal Air Force, where he served for two years. Following his service, his primary study was in English at Christ's College Cambridge, graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in 1960 and a master's degree in 1964.
After receiving his B.A., Mr. Taylor worked briefly at a textile manufacturer in England, then as an assistant at Lycee Mignet in Aix-en-Provence, France. He began his teaching career in 1962, at the Ringwood Grammar School in Bournemouth, England. He later joined the International School of Brussels in Belgium, where he taught high school English until he moved his family to St. Louis in 1968.
After arriving in St. Louis, Mr. Taylor taught English at Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School for 30 years, serving as head of the department for 15 of those years. During his tenure, he received the Albert A. Blanke Chair for Excellence in Teaching award for 11 consecutive years, beginning in 1985.
He was the reason Daniel Piquet, an English teacher at MICDS who succeeded Mr. Taylor as department chair, came to the school.
"Brian was an amazing English teacher," Piquet said, admitting he was a big fan of Mr. Taylor's poetry. "He was a person of insatiable curiosity who was interested in everything from the philosophical to the arcane. He adored the English language and creating images with his words. He was never pretentious; he just loved words.
"He had great relationships with his students," Piquet added, "and he was a model for me and other colleagues. It was constantly fun to be around Brian."
Mr. Taylor also taught creative writing at the Mark Twain Summer Institute, and later at the Cambridge Prep Experience in England. Following retirement from MICDS, Mr. Taylor became an adjunct teacher at Maryville University, St. Louis Community College at Meramec, Webster University, the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Washington University.
At The Poet's Grave
By Brian Taylor
Take a single long-stem black rose,
a rose that smells of worm-eaten books;
its petals, velvety as bread mold,
will fall apart the very instant
they touch the mossy headstone.
Question the sky about justice,
perseverance, verity, temperance,
decorum even; none of them pertain,
and there is no help anywhere—the fruit
of the yew tree, capsules of poisoned blood.
The rain will change your upturned face,
wearing it down like limestone, the skin
disintegrating like wet paper,
like unsent letters of condolence,
like the dreams you no longer recall.
Inda Schaenen was in Mr. Taylor's Shakespeare class several years ago at Washington University.
"He was a wonderfully lively person, teacher and role model whose candor showed honor in and outside the classroom," said Schaenen, now an English teacher at Villa Duchesne in St. Louis. "He had a sharp sense of humor. He was humble, extremely generous with his praise and he was a critical voice that made the connection between the classroom and the real world.
"As a teacher, I try to borrow as much of his demeanor as I can."
There was no mistaking Mr. Taylor's manner, evidenced in a Web posting about a 20-year-old incident.
"I was on a team of teachers grading exams in New Jersey, (and) a woman who was on my 'table' said to me, about two days into the task, 'Brian, your accent? What is it? Are you British or merely pretentious?' I paused long enough for her to feel uncomfortable."
But Mr. Taylor never sought comfort.
He fearlessly embraced modern technology, including having his own poetry website (www.briantaylorpoetry.com) and Facebook page, on which he proudly proclaimed himself a "liberal." While lamenting the diminution of printed books, he found accommodation.
"This Web site is something of an experiment for me," Mr. Taylor wrote. "The shift from print to pixels that this Web site celebrates will, I hope, bring pleasure to you and also give me the satisfaction of learning that I have piqued your interest."
Mr. Taylor was preceded in death by his parents.
He is survived by his former wives, Annie Taylor, of Philadelphia, and Bonnie Taylor, of St. Louis; two daughters, Magali Taylor (Jim Millar), of Narberth Pa., and Delphine Taylor (John Kaehny), of New York; two sons, Nicholas "Nick" (Metra) Taylor, of St. Louis, and Jack Taylor, of San Diego. He is also survived by a brother, George Taylor (Anna Seymour), of Manchester, UK, and a sister, Sarah Taylor-O'Reilly, of Alloa, UK; and five grandchildren, Lily, Auguste, Eloise, Cassius and Selene.
Gloria Ross is the head of Okara Communications and the storywriter for AfterWords, an obituary-writing and production service.