Obituary - ILYSE MARGO KUSNETZ

Ilyse M. Kusnetz, PhD, age 50, of Orlando, passed away at her home on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016, with her family by her side. A multi-faceted woman, she was born in Baldwin, New York ,on July 13, 1966, to Norman Kusnetz and the late Alberta Zwirn Kusnetz.

Ilyse earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of New Mexico and her master’s degree in creative writing from Syracuse University. She went on to receive her doctorate from the University of Edinburgh in feminist and postcolonial British literature. A published poet, she received the T.S. Eliot Poet Award in 2014 for her book “Small Hours.” Her second book, “Angel Bones,” is due to be published shortly. Her work has appeared in Crab Orchard Review, the Cincinnati Review, Stone Canoe and other journals.

Ilyse relocated to the Orlando area in 2001 from Albuquerque to be closer to her mother. She was an English professor at Valencia College.

On Sept. 25, 2010, in Orlando, Ilyse and her husband, Brian Turner, also a poet and memoirist, celebrated their first wedding. That ceremony was followed by another ceremony in Nevada with family and friends in attendance.

In addition to her husband and father, Ilyse is survived by her brothers, Arthur of California and Ira of Oklahoma; and her sister, Susan of Albuquerque.

A breathtakingly beautiful person, she will be missed greatly by those fortunate enough to have been touched by her.

Arrangements entrusted to Beth Shalom Memorial Chapel, 640 Lee Road, Orlando 32810.