Halley's Comet

the possibility of glimpsing some of its tail tonite brought back memories of one of my famous Kent parties:

I love Facebook

John Burroughs did a post abt the forthcoming release of my collection Ohio Triangle.

here was one of the responses:

Karen Kotrba Just ordered the deluxe and I can't wait to receive it. Alex Gildzen was my first creative writing teacher, wa-a-ay back in 1970 or 71', sometime during my undergrad days at Kent. He opened my mind to all kinds of possibilities and his encouragement changed my life.

that teaching spell in the English department at Kent State was so long ago.  I remember loving it & having some wonderful students.  but this comment is such a gift to someone my age.

Cinco ocho

hard to believe but today Cinco turns 8.

Rita just returnd from her morning drive with our buddy & Phil had to go to work. so this was taken at 7. as in AM. I considerd a paper bag over my head but settled for sunglasses.

tonite

the Jean Cocteau Cinema is a small gem in my town. it was closed for a while but George R. R. Martin bought it. I've been meaning to get there for a screening but simply haven't. but on this evening I went for live music.

Matt Alber turnd the space into a cabaret for his Santa Fe debut. it was a sweet evening. I particularly loved his a cappella rendition of the classic "Always."

Nigel Terry (1945-2015)

playing Caravaggio for Jarman 

Stopher Hall

with the 45th anniversary of the killings at Kent State upon us there has been a great deal of media interest. at one point I pickd up one of my books abt May 4th & found several things tuckd in. one was a panel from the comic strip "Crankshaft."  I clippd it because the first image was a drawing of my dorm by Chuck Ayers.

here I am in my old room for the last time -- in 1993:

among the iris

leopardstone sculpture by Maud Mariga

bulbs from Richard Balthazar

promising journalist

I came to Kent State University in the fall of 1961 on a journalism scholarship. almost immediately I went to work on the student paper. at the end of that first year I was given 
an award as the outstanding freshman on the paper's staff.

looking thru the scrapbook I kept that year I found this photo of me with the award. since it was taken in the front yard of the house on Winckles St (I presume by Dad) I must've have been able to keep the award. at least for a year? I can't recall.

I wonder who else won it over the decades & if it's still given.

today's hike

Big Tesuque Trail

star couple

one of the great partnerships in Hollywood history is that of James Bridges & Jack Larson. with Jim directing & Jack producing they did 4 films together.  but each had great success on their own as well.

here is the well-known portrait of them by my friend Stathis Orphanos:

I visitd them in their Frank Lloyd Wright house & it was like stepping into history. Bridges had appeard in films of Warhol & Cassavetes before writing some of the finest tv scripts ever. Larson was a famous tv star who knew Montgomery Clift & James Dean & had written a libretto for a Virgil Thomson opera. they showd me the O'Hara/Brainard collaborations they had. it was magic time.

& why I am remembering this?  yesterday TCM showd "Johnny Trouble" (1957). it's a silly  film with impossible dialog. but it features Stuart Whitman at his sexiest & Carolyn Jones who seems to have never given a bad performance. & there in the supporting cast were Jim & Jack. they shared the screen only fleetingly but it was lovely to see them together. & it brought back the sweetest memories.

Emerson Burkhart (1905-1969)

of late there has been new interest in the life & work of this Ohio artist.

I met him a couple of times at his home in Columbus in the '60s. he was a friend of my cousin Regina who owns several of his oils & who gave me this charcoal self-portrait.

probably as much has been written abt his life as abt his work. my memory is that Emerson loved living & certainly loved to talk. he seemd in constant motion. I remember us talking more abt writing than art.  above his fireplace was his portrait of Carl Sandburg. that ignited chats abt literature. he also knew Eugene O'Neill in Provincetown. I think it was that first visit in 1962 that he gave me a paperback abt banned books which is now in my collection at Kent.

my most vivid memory however is being in his convertible with Emerson at the wheel. he enjoyd speed & I did not. & I felt he was more wreckless driving than any person needed to be.  I think he was speeding us to Emil's for cheesecake.

another discovery

when I wrote abt Ray Johnson earlier this year I made a mistake.  I noted that I had only one piece of his.

in the past half hour as I was going thru some art books in the nicho in the living room I found this tuckd between volumes:

it's strange because I had it with art books instead of with actual art.  altho not signd it's a print. my memory of it is dim but Johnson must have sent it to me in 1977.

& so my adventure continues as I discover more & more items that have been hidden for years.

Dorothy Fuldheim (1893-1989)

things collide. I've written that before.  only because they do. & tonite I watchd the PBS show "The Day the '60s Died."  a bit later on Facebook there was a mention of this legendary Cleveland broadcaster. & I rememberd that one part of her legacy was her comment on Kent State: "We're killing our children."

anyone who grew up in northern Ohio at a certain time will remember this colorful lady. colorful for her fake red hair as well as her quick tongue.  I still remember when I visitd my Uncle John in Lorain we always had to be quiet when she came on tv because he never missd her.

in 1971 I helpd arrange for her to donate her papers to Kent State. & in 1980 Dean Keller & I askd her for something to publish for the Friends of the Libraries. the result was a little book called The House I Live In.  here is her signature in my copy:

Jayne Meadows (1919-2015)

I took this in Palm Springs in 2008 

Russell's Tobias

again I go thru piles & files looking for what needs to go somewhere special or be thrown out. & there was this CD cover:

it's by P. Craig Russell. & that cat of many colors is my own Tobias.

Craig first drew him for this portrait he did of me for the cover of Cat Scratches:

& just for the hell of it here is a rather adorable photo of Craig & I together with one of his cats o so many years ago:

72

Billi Jo Clayton (who paintd me years ago) made this for my birthday. only time I've been this close to Errol Flynn.

"Ohio Triangle"

an announcement today from John Burroughs.

& here's what I wrote on Facebook:

it's a bit difficult to realize that I have another birthday this weekend. & I know all my dear friends are pondering what to get me. instead of the festoons of flowers & chocolates & jockstraps I usually receive I have a humble suggestion. please purchase a copy of my new book. I've been working on this collection for more years than I like to admit. but I'm so proud of this book. nothing wd make me happier this birthday than to share it with you.


& for my friends across the pond my publisher informs me that you can save international postage by ordering from yr own country's Amazon.

TBT

summer of 1987. Thessaloniki.

this is Radio City Theater. & I actually saw "Rebel Without a Cause" there.  but I had this taken for a friend who was a Doris Day fanatic.

Orange Bear Reader

still finding treasures as I sort thru files & piles.

this was a broadside series from Windsor Canada (1970-71). 500 copies. original price: 75 cents each.  today they sell from $15 to $150 each.

my poem "Dolphinsong on the Nile" was number 6.

other poets
Paul Goodman
Joyce Carol Oates
Douglas Blazek
Irving Layton
Greg Kuzma
George Bowering
Lewis Warsh
Hayden Carruth

as far as I know this is the complete run.

Poems-for-All

my admiration for this series is off the charts.

it began 14 years ago with the publication of one of my favorite d.a. levy poems "the bells of the Cherokee ponies" (which I reprintd in my 1971 levy issue of The Serif).

when Richard Robert Hansen scatterd my "Nijinsky's Underwear" around the world I was ecstatic.

& now I have a second contribution to this history-making series:

synchronicity

yesterday I was thinking abt Eve Arden.

then today 2 things happend. first I saw that "My Reputation" in on TCM tonite. Arden supports Barbara Stanwyck in that one. then a dear friend wrote to tell me that yesterday he met Arden's nephew.

here I am listening to Arden at the Beverly Hilton following the AFI salute to Stanwyck in 1987:

ceiba speciosa

Billy's silk floss tree is mentiond in my poem "Colors."

here it is the other day. those white tuffs are what's left when the parrots have rippd off the seed husks.  Billy got out his cutting gizmo & snippd the one on the right for me.  I have it here in a baggie waiting till the day I spin some art out of it.

mail

thx John Dorsey & Colin Scholl 

back from LA

where I celebrated a special birthday of a special friend who took this of me with the beautiful Emma:

Judith Malina (1926-2015)

we were on a panel together  at the CUNY seminar "The Theater of Jean-Claude van Itallie" in 2008

I took this of her with Jean-Claude & Brad Burgess

a reunion

for years I've been looking for this photo. it shows two leading ladies of the silent era meeting for the first time in more than 40 years.

that's Lois Wilson on the left with May Allison. the photo was taken on the Kent State University campus in spring of 1973.  Lois was in town to appear as Mary's mother in the University Theater production of "The Women."  she had playd Mary years before in the national tour. so I suggestd to the Kent director that he cast her as a guest star. Miss Allison had been living in nearby Cleveland for years.

the original photograph must exist in the files of the University News Service. this copy isn't so good because it's a scan taken from the back cover of The Silent Picture (no. 18). I didn't remember I had a copy but discoverd it while culling stacks of ancient periodicals.

& during that same visit here I am watching Lois sign the library's copy of the poster for "The Women" which proudly hung in the Special Collections reading room during my tenure as curator.

the nites are dark in LA

this was 1988

"Goddess" (1997?)

this is the little Bernique Longley piece I mentiond in the previous post.

Bernique in the men's room

with all the interest in "Mad Men" there's also been memories of La Fonda Del Sol. this legendary restaurant opend in the Time-Life Building in 1960. it was designd by Alexander Girard with furnishings by Charles & Ray Eames. & a Google search just informd me that the men's room featured a mural by Bernique Longley (1923-1999).

Bernique was one of Santa Fe's legendary painters. & I was lucky to have known her in her final years. shortly after meeting actress Sally Kemp she invitd me to dinner   saying she had a friend I must meet. that friend was Bernique & we liked each other immediately.

since her death I regrettd that I didn't have a photograph with her. just the other day I was looking thru my albums for something else & encounterd this:

I had completely forgotten abt this long-ago party but there I am (in the rocker) & there is Bernique -- in between art historian Richard Trump & actor John Ericson.  we're not side by side but at least I have this one document.

of course I have Longleys in most rooms of my house. there's a painting I commissiond in the bedroom. one of her chickens in the kitchen. & a small goddess sculpture in the guest room.

I haven't been able to find an image of her La Fonda Del Sol mural. maybe someone somewhere will share that. until then I'll have to imagine Jon Hamm sharing space with a Longley (even if that is only film fiction).

Easter (1988)

I took this of my dear friend Julia Waida at a holiday dinner on Morris Rd. the lamb cake in the background was made by my cousin Sal.

Easter past & present

it was a cold & windy morning. but I woke from a wee nap to feel that it was nicer out.  so I opend the front door.  & there was a package. it was Peeps from Bill E. Berger.  something he's done for years.

this time I took them outside for a photo shoot. the bread box is also a gift from Billy (in 1972). Paul Metcalf told me it looks like the bread box his mother found Billy Budd in. posing with the sweets are an egg Nancy Holt gave me in 1997 & a little pink basket from one of Pooka Longley Glidden's Easter dinners.

another centennial

Stan Hywet Hall in Akron has begun celebrating its 100th year.

here's a little Wedgewood souvenir which shows its doorway.

& just for the record the black bud vase was pilferd from The Mark in NYC by my last partner years ago.

today's hike

Dragonback Trail

"A Book of Memories"

into today's box of books going to Kent is my copy of this 1993 KSU Press imprint.  I remember having some friends sign my copy (a la high school yearbooks).  but looking thru it one last time I didn't remember just how many signatures I collectd.

here are those of true crime writers Albert Borowitz & Jonathan Goodman. the photo was taken on the nite of a library gala I organized in 1990.

another true crime writer signd the book -- the late Leo Damore. & I discoverd as well signatures of astronaut Carl Walz   novelist Henry Van Dyke   football star Jack Lambert   childrens author Virginia Hamilton   entertainer Bertice Berry   fantasy writer Stephen R. Donaldson   historian Lawrence Kaplan & many others.  also all 3 editors (including the man responsible for my library career -- Dean Keller).

the dimes in Hollywood

going thru more "stuff" & I found 3 photographs Stathis Orphanos took during our 2001 shoot at Chateau Marmont. those are the Century Dimes on my chest.

here's one of the b&w photos from that shoot:

of course the best known one from that day is the portrait which appears in It's All a Movie.

a lost poem

in a copy of a friend's chapbook I found this. I inscribed it to that friend with the date "11 june 85." I have no other copy of this poem. in fact I have no memory of this poem.  but it's obviously mine.


A SUITCASE OF
WATERMELON FOR
BREAKFAST AFTER
A ONE NIGHT STAND

swimming among the
seeds I touch your
porcelain foot with
my hair
               & wake up

more inscriptions

James Broughton

Paul Metcalf

Thomas Meyer

inscriptions

in reviewing my library as I send off so many volumes to Kent I find much I'd forgotten.

Richard Howard was a house guest in 1974. here's what he wrote in my copies of a couple of his books:

Preferences
"For Alex Gildzen
who has (quickly) become 
one of mine"

Alone with America
"For Alex Gildzen
with whom I am
not alone"

reading these now they seem like stock responses. wd be interesting to compare with the copies of others to see.

& then there are the marvelous inscriptions of Kenneth Irby:

hiding in plain sight #3

Kevin McCarthy came to my house in Twin Lakes one fine day in 1976 to make use of the swimming pool.  while there he took some photographs. & they turnd out to be the best photographs I now have of that property.

this one has me in the living room:

but as I've begun doing at this stage of my life I'm reading the photograph not so much for me but for what's around me. & there in the background is the Anuszkiewicz seriagraph which looks down at me as I type & near it Berrocal's "Mini-David" which is on top of the shelves on the other side of this room. there's the antique doll's head from France which Mom bought me when I took her to Manhattan so many years ago. I still adore that piece.

there too is the old gumball machine my parents gave me for Xmas of 1972.  it's currently in my kitchen. I see a Judy Collins album & my Rockwell Kent edition of Moby Dick -- both of which are in my great room.

the rest of the story

so I return to the file cabinet & pull out another stack.  & suddenly I found this:

the mind is strange. a dozen years after all this I still remember that "Halloween" image. but I'd totally forgotten that Joel kindly sent me this next.

& this time there's a printout of my response:  "I told you while posing that I trust an artist. so when I saw the 1st image (which came in an envelope with a Warhol stamp) I thot…. o well   my nose & lips ARE my worst facial attributes. if that's the way he sees me so be it. anyway I guess I'm more vain than I thot. the new image (which appropriately came with a Cary Grant stamp) does make me feel like a movie star."

another surprise

& so one more respite from plowing thru files. this certainly was enuf to stop me.

in the fall of 2003 Joel Singer photographd me in his NYC studio. I was excited. I'd be joining the likes of Mark Morris & Jonas Mekas in his portrait gallery.

a couple of weeks later I got an envelope from Joel. I rippd it open in anticipation of seeing his portraits. this is what greetd me. 

after the shock I was hurt. I cdn't believe that this was how my friend saw me.  I must've eventually recoverd enuf to write him because tuckd in the envelope is a printout of an e-mail response. Joel wrote: "sorry to have alarmed you with the first image. it was meant as a Halloween mask and certainly not as a 'serious' portrait."

I filed that away & haven't seen this image again until today. it continues to disturb me. so now it goes into the next Kent box just waiting to frighten whoever one day comes across it.