Her first children’s book, The Bear That Couldn’t Sleep, was published in 1965.
“That’s all I’ve been good at, so I started writing,” Pomeranz said in an interview with Alketron.
Her book reflects all sorts of influences, including James Joyce. Her book, Here Comes Henny (illustrated by Nancy Windslow Parker in 1994), was inspired by a passage from Finnegan’s Wake, her daughter Dr. Marzani said. Pomeranz’s son, Daniel, had asthma problems as a child, so his family spent the winter in Puerto Rico. Some of her stories were set there or adopted Spanish.
Dr. Marzani said his mother had once written a play called “Yona and the Humpback Whale,” and recently arranged for the performance at her birthday in Charlottesville’s apartment.
“The group had been practicing for months,” she said. “We had a weekly meeting and Mom gave instructions from her wheelchair.”
She said her mother had lost consciousness in the days before her death, but the group played for her at her bedside anyway the day before her death. She died a few minutes after midnight on her birthday, but the group also carried out her wishes, and later that day in High Tea.
Karl Marzani died in 1994. In addition to his daughter, Pomeranz has survived by his son Daniel Marzani. Her cohabitation partner, Robert Mercer. Her son-in-law, Anthony Marzani. Jason Olivencia is a member of a family that she considers her son and helped with end-of-life care. Grandchildren; and two grandchildren.
