Robert Winner

Poet and businessman Robert Winner was born and raised in the Bronx and became paralyzed at age 16. He published his first book, Green in the Body (1979), when he was almost 50. His subsequent collections include Flogging the Czar (1983) and the posthumous The Sanity of Earth and Grass (1994). Winner’s poetry was known for its “absolute clarity and honesty,” in the words of poet Thomas Lux. The Poetry Society of America hosts an annual Robert H. Winner Memorial Award, which recognizes poets older than 40 who have published one or fewer books.