Paul Dresman

Paul Dresman died at home on January 5 from cancer. He was 81.
Born in Southern California in l943, Paul grew up in Los Angeles and lived in San
Francisco in the Sixties, where he was a Conscientious Objector during the Vietnam War. He
attained an M.A. at San Francisco State in English and American literature and a Ph.D. at the
University of California at San Diego. He met his soulmate, Christine Seifert, in graduate school
in La Jolla. They loved spending time in foreign cities and on trails in mountains, deserts and
the coast throughout the west. They had two sons, Drew and Evan, and eventually moved to
Eugene in 1987 after a year of teaching in China. Last January they celebrated fifty years
together in Oaxaca.
Paul taught literature and writing at universities in California, Beijing, China, and at the
University of Oregon. He was a poet, a translator of poetry from Spanish, and an essayist who
published several chapbooks and two collections of poetry, The Silver Dazzle of the Sun (2003)
and In the River of My Sleep (2023). He also co-edited literary journals, including Crawl Out
Your Window,1970s in La Jolla, and bi-lingual helicóptero with Jesús Sepúlveda,1990s in
Eugene. He recently completed a soon-to-be published memoir, American Labyrinth.
Paul was a writer who loved to ride the lyrical wave of a poetic line as well as the wall of
an ocean wave—he surfed for sixty years. He danced with rhythm and flair to fast shuffles and
loping rock. He especially appreciated the kindness of many throughout his life and the deep
attractions of our wondrous planet.
His quick wit, amazing memory, story-telling and wide-ranging knowledge will be
deeply missed. He is survived by his wife, Christine Seifert, his two sons and their partners,
Drew Dresman (Riisa Conklin) and Evan Dresman (Laura Begley), his grandchildren, Alma and
Ellis Dresman, and his brother, Craig Dresman.