Gerd Stern

Gerd Jacob Stern (October 12, 1928 – February 17, 2025) was an American poet and artist.

Early life and education Born Gerd Jacob Stern in the Saar region, then under a League of Nations mandate, he emigrated with his family to New York City in 1935 following the Saar's incorporation into Nazi Germany. His father, Otto Stern, operated a cheese import business.

In the early 1960s, Stern co-founded the artists' collective USCO ("US Company") with Michael Callahan and Stephen Durkee. Members of USCO included photographer and weaver Judi Stern (his third wife), filmmaker Jud Yalkut, and Stewart Brand, who later created the Whole Earth Catalog.

By the 1970s, as the popularity of multimedia art declined, Stern established another collective, Intermedia Systems Corporation, and transitioned into academia, teaching at Harvard University and the University of California, Santa Cruz.

In the early 2000s, Stern's work received renewed attention with retrospectives at institutions such as Anthology Film Archives and the Whitney Museum of American Art, and his collaborative media works were exhibited in Europe and the United States.

Late in life, he contributed to cultural projects such as "LSD: The Opera," co-compiled a poetry anthology focused on Jewish holidays, and participated in monthly poetry-science discussions in New York City. Stern also led the family cheese-import business in New Jersey for a period and served as president of the American Cheese Society.

Personal life Stern was married four times, with each marriage ending in divorce. He had multiple children and grandchildren, although three sons and one grandson predeceased him.