Jack Ridl is the author of Shattered Symmetry (Wayne State University Press, 2006), which was selected outstanding book of poetry by The Society of Midland Writers in 2006, as well as Lost Season and Approaching Literature, which he co-authored with Peter Schakel. He is a professor emeritus at Hope College, where the Carnegie (C.A.S.E.) Foundation recognized him Michigan's Professor of the Year in 1996. More than 75 of his former students have gone on to become published authors.