{{short description|American novelist}}
300px|thumb|Dick Wimmer '''Richard Samuel Wimmer'''<ref name="LA Times obit">{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-dick-wimmer-20110523-story.html | title= Dick Wimmer dies at 74; author whose well-reviewed novel was rejected 162 times | work= Los Angeles Times | first= Valerie J. | last= Nelson | date= 23 May 2011 }}</ref> (June 18, 1936 – May 18, 2011) was an American author, editor and creative writing instructor known for his trilogy of novels the ''Irish Wine Trilogy''.<ref name="NY Times obit">{{cite web| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/arts/dick-wimmer-74-irish-wine-author-is-dead.html?ref=deathsobituaries|title=Dick Wimmer, Whose Persistence Got Him Published, Dies at 74|work=The New York Times|date=May 24, 2011| first=Dennis | last=Hevesi}}</ref> He claimed to be the most rejected published author in history.<ref name=philly/>
==Early life == Born in New York City to Sidney and Frances Wimmer,<ref name="LA Times obit" /> Wimmer grew up in Great Neck, Long Island, New York. He earned a bachelor's degree from Cornell University in 1958 and master's degrees in English from both Yale University (1959) and Columbia University (1974).<ref name="LA Times obit" />
==Career== His first book, ''Irish Wine'' (1989. Mercury House), was published when he was 53 years old. He had relentlessly attempted to get that work published since the early 1970s, but had received a total of 162 rejections for the book from publishing houses over a more than 25-year period before the work was finally accepted for publication.<ref name="LA Times obit" /> ''Irish Wine'' proved to be a success with critics but was never a bestseller. Two sequels followed to form the ''Irish Wine Trilogy'': ''Boyne’s Lassie'' (1998) and ''Hagar’s Dream''.<ref name="LA Times obit" /> He also edited several books about sports.<ref name=philly>{{cite news| url=http://www.philly.com/philly/obituaries/122555679.html|title=Dick Wimmer, Dogged Novelist, 74|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=May 25, 2011}}</ref> Wimmer also wrote the script to a TV movie, ''Million Dollar Infield'' (1982).<ref name="LA Times obit" />
In addition to his writing, Wimmer worked as an adjunct professor of English at more than two dozen colleges and universities during his lifetime.<ref name="NY Times obit" />
==Personal life== Wimmer's was married and divorced.<ref name="NY Times obit" /> He had two sons, Ceo and Geordie, and five grandchildren.<ref name="NY Times obit" /> He died on May 18, 2011, at age 74 at his home in Agoura Hills, California.<ref name="LA Times obit" />
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wimmer, Dick}} Category:1936 births Category:2011 deaths Category:20th-century American novelists Category:American male novelists Category:Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Category:Cornell University alumni Category:Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Category:20th-century American male writers