(262) 653-0667
3016 75th Street, Kenosha, WI 53142
Carl Martin Lindner, age 80, passed away on August 7th, 2021. He was born on August 31st, 1940, in the Bronx to the late Max and Ruth (Adler) Lindner. He went to City College of New York where he got his bachelor’s and master’s degrees and met his wife, Sandra.
He was accepted to UW-Madison’s English PhD program in the mid-1960s, and he and Sandra moved to Madison and had their first child there, Jennifer. In 1970 he earned his PhD, and shortly afterward was hired by the University of Wisconsin-Parkside to teach English and Poetry. They moved to Racine, where their second child was born, Peter.
Not long after he began teaching, the administration of Parkside tried to fire almost all of their newly hired young professors in order to hire more prestigious staff. Some of the young professors banded together to resist this treatment, including Carl, who got the word to the media, and they succeeded. The administration backed down and almost all of the professors taught at Parkside until their retirement, earning many teaching awards along the way. Carl was greatly loved by his students throughout his career, for both his poetry and literature classes, and also earned many teaching awards. He was recognized for his poetry by the Wisconsin Arts Board with a fellowship in 1981, and by UW-Parkside, which honored him with an award for Creative Activity in 1996.
Basketball was one of the great loves of his
life. He grew up playing it in Saint James Park in the Bronx with his
brother and cousins and played very well most of his life. He had an
amazing hook shot and poise during clutch moments, and used to say that when he
was young, he got all his anger out on the court. One of
his happiest memories was of the end of a close basketball game: he passed the
ball to his brother who sank the winning basket, and he looked up to see that
their father had seen the whole thing and was smiling. He taught his own
children how to shoot at the garage hoop in their backyard. His first published
full-length book of poetry was called “Shooting Baskets in a Dark Gymnasium.”
He was an avid gardener, in love with the farmland of Wisconsin since first discovering it. He converted the family’s backyard into a garden, growing squash, tomatoes, strawberries, and sunflowers among many others, and grew a plethora of cactuses in the arid, bright window of his office at Parkside. After retirement he became active in the environmental movement, joining the Sierra Club and a coalition of activists who fought to shut down WE Energies’ coal plant in Oak Creek, which is shutting down earlier than they’d originally intended.
He loved Native American culture and art, and loved the books of Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, and Rollo May. He took annual trips to the Rocky Mountains, sometimes visiting Skelly and Judy Warren’s theater camp, and visited Glacier National Park with his son Peter.
He is survived by his son Peter Lindner, daughter Jennifer Lindner, grandson Jonas Lindner, and cousins Ron Robins, Barbara Holland, Barbara Shea, Marty Hyman, Karen Buckley, Janice Wolpo, Stefi Adler, Leni Daniels, Julie Komenda, Cory Adler, and Lynn Leidersdorff, and an aunt, Myrna Adler. He was preceded in death by his parents, ex-wife Sandra, and younger brother Bruce. He loved life and was true to himself throughout it, a man of great integrity, wisdom, warmth, humor, friendship, ferocity, and love, and the best father in the world. He was greatly loved and is greatly missed.
Services for Carl will be held at the DeKoven Center Courtyard (600 Carron Butler Drive, Racine, WI, 53403) on Wednesday, August 18th from 4:30 P.M. until 6 P.M. In lieu of flowers donations to the Sierra Club in Carl’s name would be greatly appreciated. https://www.teamsierra.org/memorial/carllindner
Mon - Fri: 8AM - 4PM
(262) 653-0667
3016 75th Street, Kenosha, WI 53142
Stefi Adler says:
Carl loved basketball and played with my Dad, his Uncle Norman. Carl was good. Pop was better! It was fun to watch.
Carl had so many gifts. He was a great conversationalist, wonderful at family gatherings, with a rich imagination that was expressed thru his poetry. I wish I could’ve taken his classes.
I will miss you, dear Cuz. Godspeed.
Bryan Wehr says:
Carl was my professor, during the late 90’s into the early 2000’s. We became friends through a mutual love of music. We would go to each other’s houses and trade Blues and Jazz CDs, have lunch and great conversations.
Carl was a man who understood himself, a trait which enabled him to understand others. He was a compassionate and thoughtful man, who will be greatly missed by anyone who knew him. Rest In Peace my friend.
Carol Lee Saffioti-Hughes says:
A dear, dear, sweet man. Much loved….former colleague, Carol Lee Saffioti Hughes…
Leni Adler Daniels says:
Cousin Carl was a very wise and gentle man. He loved to eat, and take his time to taste every morsel. I will always think of him fondly. Unfortunately another one gone. Our Family needs another Family reunion.
Fay Yokomizo Akindes says:
I taught Communication and Ethnic Studies at UW-Parkside and experienced being invisible to many seasoned professors – until I gained tenure. Carl was different. He welcomed me to the floor and we often stopped to chat in the coffee room. We talked about all things, including food. Here’s a recipe for Mmmm Salmon that he shared with me; it’s from his son Peter from Feb. 2022: Salmon with Mustard Sauce – preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix together: 4 T dijon mustard, 1 T sugar, 2 T white vinegar, 1/2 c canola oil, 1 T fresh minced dill. Spray a glass baking dish with Pam. Pour the sauce over 1 lb. of salmon. Cook for 15-20 minutes.
I will prepare this recipe on Sunday in memory of Carl. Peace and aloha – Fay
Fay says:
correction: Feb. 2002
Michael Rohl says:
Dr. Lindner was one of my favorite professors along with Don Cummings. He helped me so much with my own poetry. As a tribute to him and an inspiration and to his book “Shooting baskets in a Dark Gymnasium” I wrote “swimming in a dark natatorium.” He thought it was quite clever and was flattered. My wife had him as well and often, more often then you might think we talk about home much we liked him. So terribly sorry for the families loss. He was a well loved man.
Laura S Gellott says:
Hello Michael: I would like to be in touch with you. Can you please write to me at lauragellott@gmail.com?
Michael Clickner says:
Carl was one of my favorite teachers. He later was a good colleague when I started working at UWP. He will be greatly missed. I send my prayers for his family and all who knew him.
Frances M. Kavenik says:
He was a great colleague and an excellent teacher. Always witty with a touch of spice.. Many generations of students benefitted from his grace and dedication.
Carole Gottlieb Vopat says:
Carl and I worked together from 1970 until his retirement. We were confidantes and friends, hanging out on my porch in Milwaukee, sharing advice, encouragement and laughter. He was always a great teacher and I watched him as he became a poet. Above all, he was singularly himself and so irreplaceable.
Terri Jones says:
I was a student of Mr. Lindner’s in the late 80s and early 90s. I loved his laid-back style and his Bronx accent. When we talked about poetry, I always thought poems had to be about a certain something. But he said, “Poetry can be about anything.” I am now a children’s librarian and I teach creative writing to kids. When we do a poetry unit, I tell them, “Poetry can be about anything!”
Laura S Gellott says:
Carl was passionate about teaching, and passionate about the causes to which he was devoted, particularly the environment.
He said that he believed he was at his most authentic when he was in the classroom, teaching.
He will be greatly missed by his many friends and colleagues.
Laura Gellott
Ron Robbins says:
I can’t express how much I will miss my cousin but as I wrote earlier, I will not grieve, I will celebrate his life.
Carl has been a part of my earliest memories and I have the scars, from excessive nuggies, to prove it.
Throughout his life, Carl has always been an active observer. By that I mean that he not only recognized the world around him but that he took active steps in rebalancing the scales of justice. He did this for ideas, for himself, for his colleagues, for his community, for his world and for his family. He couldn’t help it, it was simply part of his nature and all who knew him are better for it.
Carl’s Mom, my Aunt Ruth, was my Godmother. Our families were exceptionally close in all aspects of life. Although our larger family from the Adler line are spread out throughout the country we remain close and in that closeness our memories and legacies live on.
Lynn Leidersdorff says:
Whatever emotional intelligence is… Carl had it, or had a handle on it. Carl’s rich and versatile vocabulary could knit socks without knitting needles, could scramble eggs without a utensil. Carl had that “sweet spot”…. “show” with his smile, with an apostrophe, or that right handed hook shot off the backboard.
Carl was a brother. I think we will always be Essence friends.
Julie Adler Komenda says:
Carl was FAMILY. He had such a loyal memory of his cousins, always wanted to know how everyone was doing, where they were going in life. To have him as a friend as well made the world a kinder place. When he was passionate about something it would do well to get out of his way.
Carl came to visit us in Colorado, we made a trip to Indigenous archaeological sites in Colorado Springs, about a two hour drive. I could barely pry him away to go home. The next day he announced we had to go back . So we did. And his enthusiasm and joy of discovery was the best!
As a fellow English major, we had years of correspondence and phone calls, never a lack of things to talk about. To see him hanging out with my sons, Chris and Sky, and my husband Chris, was a joy as it just made the circle bigger. Miss you, Cuz.
Barbara Holland says:
Carl was my cousin for 78 years. We shared so many good times together and I will miss him tremendously. He came to visit Sid and myself in Virginia for the last 15 years or so and we spoke on the phone at least once a week. Oh, I’m going to miss those calls. We could talk just about anything and he always ended the call with a joke and with an I love you – he had the best sense of humor. Our good times together will live in my heart forever.
Chris Komenda, Jr says:
“Cousin” Carl, who was more an Uncle of sorts, will be greatly missed. I was able to connect with him more as an adult in recent years where we discussed current events and philosophy. He included me on a some of emails, and after a handful of email exchanges between us, inspired me to work on pursuing higher goals and to continue my education.
Among his conversations with me included these thoughts:
“Nothing pleases the teacher in me more than to see people exercising independent thought.”
“All I’ve ever asked of my classes was that they think about the material.”
I’ll be thinking of that material far more often, Cuz.
Linda Flashinski says:
I was a huge admirer of Carl Lindner. I met Carl decades ago when I signed up for a poetry writing class at UW-Parkside. I was fortunate that Carl, an amazing poet, was the professor for that class. Carl had a very powerful way of teaching by encouraging our writing, sharing some of the writing with the class, critiquing our poetry, making us see the strength of our own writing and the importance of writing itself. Of course, he interspersed the seriousness of the class with his well-known humor! Such a good man he was with such a breadth of wisdom and knowledge and laughter. It was much later that I interacted with him again through the work of the Clean Power Coalition of Southeast Wisconsin and Sierra Club. With my own losses, I have come to understand the legacy that is left by those unique individuals who are kind and wise and loving and gentle……and how much they leave for those of us who are left behind. To dear Carl, you made a difference. With affection, Linda Flashinski
Mary Sterbin says:
I hesitate to comment with all of these beautiful personal relationships. I was a student at UW-P in early seventies and landed in an American Lit class taught by Prof Lindner and thereafter took every Literature class taught by him I could. I graduated in another discipline but never forgot him. Meeting many years later I summoned the courage to speak to him. He asked what I was doing. Told him I was a stay at home Mom. His reply was “Gee you couldn’t find anything easier to do?” And chuckled…..I felt validated for my choice. My sympathies to his family.
Eric Simpson says:
Our friends enrich our lives. For knowing Carl, I was wealthy.
Laura McClure says:
On behalf of Dean Gee, Dean Baldwin and the entire staff in the College of Business, Economics, and Computing, please accept our condolences on the passing of Carl. Take solace in your memories and know that he touched so many lives at UW-Parkside. He will be missed.