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William "Bill" Zander--the quotation marks were intentional irony--possessed unusual talents. Most publicly, his creative strengths were revealed in more than one hundred published poems and in two books--Distances and Gone Haywire--and a chapbook--Winter Trees. He also wrote reviews, fiction, feature stories, and nature articles.

His drawing skills will come as a happy surprise to many who knew him, the sketch books and impromptu placemats shown only to family and friends. After cartoons in his college humor magazine and a gag greeting card released during the short time he worked for Hallmark, he never submitted his artwork. Drawing was essentially a private pleasure.

Bill, with extensive musical knowledge, played guitar and wrote jokey songs, like "Going to New Jersey Blues" and "Does Your Mother Know You're Sleeping with a Hippie?"

Fishing was a passion, hours spent with a flyrod on streams or in a boat anchored in the middle of a lake. After the season, he tied flies with careful precision. Research and accuracy were central to Bill in all of his activities, including his years of teaching.

Anyone who spent just minutes in Bill's company knew how inventively funny he could be, clever with words and zany in action. But that was just what he displayed on the surface. The essential Bill--as revealed most in his poetry--was a man of insightful depth, spiritual seeking, and profound compassion.