beat list 1996

Plummer (poet, LA), Keith Clatyon (vibraphonist, LA), Karen Celesan (poet,

LA), Robin Harris Thompson (singer/poet, LA), Kyla Thompsom (9 year old

singer/poet, LA), Samara Jones (11 year old poet, LA), Michael Clatyon,

Valentine Pierce (poet, LA), Kerry Poree (poet, LA), Quo Vadis Gex Breaux

(poet, LA), Ted Graham (musician, LA), Gina Ferrera (poet, LA), Robert Menuet

(poet, LA), Clara Connell (poet, LA), plus more to be added plus last minute

special guest appearances.

EVENT SPONSORS:

the literary renaissance, White Fields Press, The Eisenhower Center for

American Studies & the Majic Bus at University of New Orleans, TRIBE

Magazine, The New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center, The Howlin Wolf Club,

EXQUISITE CORPSE Magazine, The City of New Orleans, The New Orleans Poetry

Forum.

=========================================================================

Date: Thu, 11 Jul 1996 14:12:46 -0400

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: Paul McDonald - Bon Air Branch <PAUL@LOUISVILLE.LIB.KY.US>

Subject: APOLOGIES!!

My apologies to the list for duplicating a message that had already been

sent(i.e. The New Orleans Event). I shot it thru before I read my mail.

By the way, I will be sending, very soon, Ron Whitehead's recent interview

with William Burroughs that appeared it the July 10 edition of the Louisville

Eccentric Observer.

Paul

=========================================================================

Date: Fri, 12 Jul 1996 10:26:47 -0400

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: Julie Hulvey <JHulvey@AOL.COM>

Subject: Burroughs mention in Edw. T. Hall autobio

Currently reading cultural anthropologist Edward T. Hall's autobiography,

_An Anthropology of Everyday Life_. In Chapter 2, where he describes

boarding at the Los Alamos, New Mexico school (which should have jogged my

memory!) I came upon this sentence:

>Many of the boys had rifles, including my friend William Burroughs, whom

>we called Bugs because of his interest in biology.

This led me to wonder if Hall and Burroughs might have known each other

before Los Alamos. Hall's family lived in Webster Groves, which is adjacent

to St. Louis, Burroughs' hometown.

Anybody know?

=========================================================================

Date: Fri, 12 Jul 1996 10:28:12 EDT

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: Bill Gargan <WXGBC@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Subject: Re: lowell '96

In-Reply-To: Message of Thu, 11 Jul 1996 11:03:05 EST from

<caldwer1@TIPO.TRANSCRIPTS.COM>

I've been at the last two festivals and had a great time. If you're

going, makeyour hotel reservations NOW! It's fall foliage season and

rooms are hard to find in October. The Parks dept. sponsors several

fine literary walking tours and there has been a great canal ride on the

Merrimack. You have to make reservations for most tours. It's a fun

weekend!

=========================================================================

Date: Fri, 12 Jul 1996 17:54:52 EDT

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: mARK hEMENWAY <mhemenway@S1.DRC.COM>

Subject: Re: Hotel Rooms for Lowell '96

Bill is right- book your hotel now. The Sheraton is right downtown, I have

reserved rooms at a special rate for the festival. Call the HOTEL at

508-451-1200 and tell reservations you are with Lowell Celebrates

Kerouac!. Call the hotel, do not call the Sheraton worldwide number.

There is also a Susse Chalet a mile or so away, as are Residence Inn,

HOJO, Courtyard.

Mark Hemenway

LOwell Celebrates Kerouac!

=========================================================================

Date: Sat, 13 Jul 1996 09:27:25 -0400

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: Paul McDonald - Bon Air Branch <PAUL@LOUISVILLE.LIB.KY.US>

Subject: RON WHITEHEAD INTERVIEW WITH WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

This is the Ron Whitehead interview with William S. Burroughs as it appeared

in the Louisville Eccentric Observer, July 10, 1996.

Paul

********************************************************************************

NAKED INTERVIEW: CONVERSATIONS WITH WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

William S. Burroughs is one of the greatest writers of our times. His talent

has brought him fame, and along with it, many burdens. Daily, Burroughs is

swamped with fan mail, unexpected visitors and interview requests. And if

that wasn't enough to keep him occupied, strange rumors have begun circulating

about him. Burroughs, who rarely grants interviews, speaks with Ron Whitehead

in an attempt to counter the public's false speculation about him.

"His Swiftian vision of a processed, pre-pakeaged

life, of a kind of elctro-chemical totalitarianism, often

evokes the black laughter of hilarious horror."

---Playboy

"Burroughs is the greatest satirical writer since

Jonathan Swift."

---Jack Kerouac

"The only American writer possessed by genius."

---Norman Mailer

"Burroughs shakes the reader as a dog shakes

a rat."

---Anthony Burgess

"An integrity beyond corruption...Burroughs

convinces us he has seen things beyond description."

---John Updike

"One of the most dazzling magicians of

our time."

---John Rechy

"The Ticket is Exploding"

"With suffering comes humility and with it

in the end, wisdom."

---J. Swift

At 82, William Seward Burroughs II, El Hombre Invisible, Literary

Outlaw, Commandeur de l'Ordre de Arts et des Lettres, is rapidly becoming

the most respected, highly regarded writer in America, in the world.

"All at once I snapped my fingers a couple of times

and laughed. Hellfire and damnation! I suddenly

imagined I had discovered a new word! I sat up in

bed, and said: It is not in the language, I have

discovered it - Kuboaa. It has letters just like

a real word, by sweet Jesus, man, you have discovered

a word!...Kuboaa...of tremendous linguistic

significance. The word stood out clearly in front

of me in the dark."

Burroughs? No. Knut Hamsun. In 1890, with the publication of

"Hunger," the first purely psychological novel(yes I'm ready to argue), Hamsun

turned the literary world upside-down and spun it around. In 1959, 69 years

after Hamsun's breakthrough, with the release of "Naked Lunch," William S.

Burroughs, explorer in the most real mythological sense, whose search for The

Word has, does and will take him anywhere outside and inside himself, did what

only a small handful of "literari" have achieved in the history of writing:

He forever redirected the course of literature in a way that permanently

altered language, culture and seeing.

So, what the hell is Old Bull Lee up to? Retired and enjoying good

health, does he rest on his arse? No. He is busy working his arts off,

dreaming, seeing, reading and representing new and old visions on paper,

canvas, vinyl,tape, disk, CD-Rom, your brain and mine.

Dream long and dream hard enough

You will come to know

Dreaming can make it so

---William S. Burroughs

But rumors abound: He's kept tied to his bed and forced to use a

chamber pot; he still takes heroin; he moved to central America (USA) because

land was cheap and he knows it's about to become beachfront property since

East and West coasts willbe falling into oceans any day now; he's dead; he

shoots obsessed, fatal-attraction European midnight visitors with a shotgun.

Come on people. Wake up. Sober down. William Burroughs is

harassed day and night by folks from around the world showing up, without

invitation, notice or warning, banging on doors and windows, camping in his

yard, trying to get a glimpse of the legend.

The man is 82. Let's show respect for his privacy as we do for his

work, as we would expect and demand given the good fortune of being in his

position. He receives requests every day for interviews, visits, readings,

recordings and films. He does what he can, and always, always in the

friendliest manner. (And no, he hasn't shot or threatened anyone.)

William's latest books include "My Education: A Book of Dreams" and

"Ghost of Chance." Recent audiowork includes "Naked Lunch,""X-Files CD,"

plus, he is now in studio recording "Junky" and enjoying it so much he may go

right into "Queer."

Two historic Burroughs events are taking place this summer. The Los

Angeles County Museum of Art (you can contact them at 212-857-6522) is

premiering the exhibition "Ports of Entry: William S. Burroughs and the Arts"

on July 16 through October 6. The event, curated by Robert Sobieszek, is the

first-ever retrospective surveying Burroughs' career, with 153 works,

beginning with his 1960s and early 1970s photocollages, scrapbooks, and his

collaborations with Brion Gysin on photomontage "cut-ups." The exhibition

will also include Burroughs' later shotgun art and recent abstract painting,

and will explore how his work has influenced today's cultural landscape,

resulting in the absorption of his ideas and routines into newer art,

advertising and current popular culture.

The second event is The New Orleans Voices Without Restraint

INSOMNIACATHON at the Contemporary Arts Center and The Howlin' Wolf Club, the

largest Beat gathering of the year, where Mayor Mark Morial, James Grauerholz,

Doug Brinkley, and others will speak with Burroughs over the phone. (For more

information contact Ron Whitehead at 502-568-4956.)

Yes, the ticket is exploding. The walls of the literary world, the

world of culture, are crumbling, and through the gaping holes strides the

drawling wordslinger with an attitude, William Seward Burroughs II.

William S. Burroughs: Hello?

Ron Whitehead: William?

WSB: Yes.

Whitehead: Ron Whitehead.

WSB: Well, well, Ron Whitehead.

Whitehead: How the hell are you?

WSB: How what?

Whitehead: How are you?

WSB: Well, I'm fine, thank you.

Whitehead: As you recall, I produced your "Published in Heaven: Remembering

Jack Kerouac poster and chapbook," plus I sent you my "Calling the Toads" poem

& I'm right now producing the William S. Burroughs/Sonic Youth 7" vinyl

recording for our audio series.

WSB: Oh, of course, yes, yes.

Whitehead: I just received letters from Rene in Amsterdam. He says that after

my reading at the Meer den Woorden Festival in Goes, Holland he started having

dreams in which you and I taught him how to save the world. I'm forwarding

the letters to you.

WSB: How old is he? I think I remember him. What does he look like?

Whitehead: Early 20s. Blond. Handsome. Friendly. Intelligent. Knows the

history of the Beats inside out. He writes from a mental hospital in

Amsterdam.

WSB: Hmm. Not sure. Perhaps.

Whitehead: Reason I'm calling is that Doug Brinkley has asked me to produce an

event in New Orleans in August. It will be the largest Beat gathering of the

year. RANT for the literary renaissance and The Majic Bus will present the

event, called Voices Without Restraint: 48-Hour Non-Stop Music & Poetry

INSOMNIACATHON. As part of the event, we'll hold a City of New Orleans

Presentation Ceremony, dedicating to you the historic marker which will be

erected at your Algiers home, which was made famous by Jack Kerouac in "On the

Road." And we'd like to have a live phone conversation with you during the

presentation.

WSB: Why certainly. Yes, yes. I'm honored.

Whitehead: Good. Just a few questions.

WSB: Fine. Shoot.

Whitehead: Why did you decide to settle in Algiers, which at that time was

home to various military bases, rather than in one of the traditional bohemian

neighborhoods?

WSB: Yes. Because it was a hell of a lot cheaper. Real estate there was the

cheapest. I got that house for $7,000 something.

Whitehead: Any memories of different New Orleans neighborhoods you visited,

music, riding the ferry?

WSB: The Quarter, strange plays...Didn't get around too much.

Whitehead: The New Orleans Police have come under attack recently -- imagine

that -- for corruption. A cop hired executioners to kill a woman who signed a

brutality complaint against him. Louisiana police cars have "So no one will

have to fear" inscribed on their sides. Do you have any observations about

the New Orleans police, about the illegal search of your home there, or the

firearms they confiscated?

WSB: No. They never laid a finger on me, as far as any brutality goes. They

did lead me to believe that one of them was a federal agent when he wasn't.

He was a city cop. So there was an illegal search. But I didn't know it at

the time. The next day, I was arrested. There was someone with me I hardly

knew. He was just introduced to me. He had one joint on him. He'd thrown

out larger amounts but still had one, and they found it right away. Then the

next day they went in and took my car and I never got it back, though I wasn't

convicted of anything. See, they can confiscate your property even though

you're not convicted of anything. And that's really scary sinister.

Whitehead: Both our political parties are looking like a bird with two right

wings.

WSB: Exactly.

Whitehead: The police are gaining more powers daily as our personal freedoms

are disappearing.

WSB: See, that's what I say. The whole drug war is nothing but a pretext to

increase police power and personnel, and that, of course, is dead wrong. So

many created imagined drug offenses.

Whitehead: New Orleans has North America's largest magic community. In

recent years you've spoken bluntly about your interest in magic. In New

Orleans did you encounter magic in any form?

WSB: No, I didn't.

Whitehead: There may be irony in having a literary marker commemorate your

Algiers home, a place where you lived briefly, perhaps unhappily. Did you

produce any writing there?

WSB: Oh yes, quite a bit. And I wouldn't say I was particularly unhappy

there.

Whitehead: So it wasn't all that bad?

WSB: No, it wasn't. Not at all.

Whitehead: Jack Kerouac devoted a large section of "On the Road," on the New

Orleans visit.

WSB: Oh well, Kerouac was writing fiction. What he did when he wrote about

me...he made me out with Russian Countesses and Swiss accounts and other

things I didn't have or didn't happen and so on. Yet...some truth, some

fiction.

Whitehead: You have dramatically influenced music, literature, film, art,

advertising and culture in general. Are you intrigued by that influence? How

did you first become conscious of other people's perception of you as icon?

WSB: Well, slowly of course. Over time. Reading the paper, magazines,

journals, that sort of thing.

Whitehead: The request for interviews becomes absurd after a while. This is

the first and last one I intend to do. I feel uncomfortable in the position

of interviewer.

WSB: Yes, it becomes absurd because interviewers generally ask the same

questions, say the same things.

Whitehead: Recently you've been barraged with interview requests, especially

in relation to the deaths of Timothy Leary and Jan Kerouac.

WSB: Yes, of course I knew Leary, but barely knew, didn't really know Jan.

James knew her, was friends with her, but I didn't.

Whitehead: Hunter S. Thompson, who I like so much, is, like me, from

Louisville and you're from just up the road in St. Louis. I recently visited

Hunter at his home in Colorado. Hunter said he thought he was a pretty good

shot until he went shooting with you.

WSB: I'll put it like this: Some days you're good and some you aren't.

Whitehead: You must have been good that day. Hunter was real impressed.

WSB: Well, he gave me a great pistol.

Whitehead: Like Hunter, some people would say that you're a Southern

gentleman with a world literary reputation, but both you and Hunter have

escaped the Southern-writer label. Any comments?

WSB: I escaped the label because I didn't and don't write about the South.

Whitehead: Do you have a personal favorite of your own readings? I know

you've been in the studio recording "Junky."

WSB: No, I don't have any special favorite.

Whitehead: Other than Brion Gysin, is there anyone you miss the most?

WSB: When you get to be my age there are more and more people you have known

that you miss. Brion, Antony Balch, Ian Summerville are ones I think of right

away I was quite close to.

Whitehead: Diane di Prima is underrated, underappreciated in the world. Her

autobiography will be released by Viking Penguin in April '97. I hope she'll

finally receive credit that's long overdue.

WSB: Yes, I hope so too.

Whitehead: You've had much to say about Samuel Beckett. Beckett's mentor,

James Joyce, was an anarchist who devoted his life work to undermining and

deconstructing the dominant paradigm of patriarchy in government, religion,

family and literature. I'm doing research asking The Beats what influence

James Joyce had, if any, on their writing. How do you feel about Joyce?

WSB: Well he's great, a very great writer. Any modern writer is bound to be

influenced by Joyce. Of course, by Beckett as well.

Whitehead: I had a long conversation with Allen Ginsberg about Bob Dylan.

Allen talked about his personal feelings towards Dylan and also about Dylan's

work. Allen said he felt like Dylan would be remembered long after The Beats

and he added reasons why. This is a strong statement, especially coming from

Allen Ginsberg. Do you have any comments on this?

WSB: No, I don't. Not in any cursory way. Of course, I've listened to and

know his music and met him a couple of times, but I don't have any strong

statements to make.

Whitehead: John Giorno is giving me an out-take from The Best of Bill CD box

set he's producing. As part of White Fields Press' Published in Heaven

series, I'm producing a 7" vinyl recording with you on one side and Sonic

Youth on the other. Lee Renaldo has stopped by to visit you. How much are

you able to keep up with music today?

WSB: Some much more than others. I've worked with and am very good friends

with Patti Smith and Jim Carroll.

Whitehead: How do you feel about this historic marker?

WSB: Fine. Fine. It's an honor like the French Commandeur de l'Ordre des

Arts et des Lettres. Commander of Arts and Letters. Commander of Arts and

Letters.

Photographs:

1. Cover photo of William S. Burroughs by Allen Ginsberg, courtesy of Allen

Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs and Ron Whitehead.

2. Photo of William S. Burroughs by Allen Ginsberg, courtesy of Allen

Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs and Ron Whitehead.

3. Photo of Hunter S. Thompson and writer Ron Whitehead courtesy of Nancy

Whitehead.

4. Photo of William S. Burroughs by Allen Ginsberg, courtesy of Allen

Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs and Ron Whitehead.

Note: Photos will vary with each publication this piece appears in (i.e. BEAT

SCENE will feature in issue #25 or #26 with photos from L.A. County Museum of

Art Exhibition plus Hunter and Ron photo).

CALLING THE TOADS

Hummm

Calling the toads

We shall come rejoicing

Calling the toads

one step out the door off the step

goin down swingin

in a peyote amphetamine benzedrine

dream

I'm five years old I am the messenger holdin

William Burroughs' Bill Burroughs'

Old Bull Lee's hand

holdin Bill's hand on some lonely

godforsakinuppermiddleclassSt.Louisstreet

and we're hummin we're hummin

we're hummin in tones

callin the toads

oh yeah we're callin the toads

Bill's eyes twinklin glitterin

a devilish grin crackin the corners

of his mouth and I'm lookin him

right smack in the eyes

deep in the eyes I'm readin

his heroined heart yes I'm readin his old heart

but it ain't the story I expected

as we move this way and that

raisin and lowerin out heads our voices

callin the toads

and here they come

marchin high and low from

under the steps from under

the shrooms of the front yard

from round the corner of the house

fallin from the trees

rainin down here come the toads

all sizes and shapes all swingin

and swayin and dancin that

magic Burroughs Beat

yes here come the toads singin

and swayin and swingin their hips

now standin all round us

hundreds thousands of toads

eyes bulgin tongues stickin out hard

dancin a strange happy vulgar rhythmed

dance for Burroughs and me

yes Burroughs yes Burroughs

yes Burroughs I see his heart

and I know his secret

a secret no one has discovered

til now but I'll never tell

never reveal as I witness

this sacred scene this holy ceremony

this gathering

this universal song and dance

I witness through the eyes the heart

of William S. Burroughs

King of the Toads

Calling the toads

We shall come rejoicing

Calling the toads

hummmm

Ron Whitehead can be reached at RWhiteBone@worldnet.att.net

=========================================================================

Date: Sat, 13 Jul 1996 12:46:24 EDT

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: Bill Gargan <WXGBC@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Subject: communication problem

Apologies to listmembers but I'm having a problem contacting Waterrow books dir

ectly. Jeff, I doublechecked that address you asked me about. I did find it a

nd it was the same as the address you had. For some reason, I was unable to r

eply to you directly. You might want to check your out your end with aol.com.

=========================================================================

Date: Sat, 13 Jul 1996 17:29:34 -0600

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: dawn m zarubnicky <fedex@UNM.EDU>

Subject: Douglas Brinkley's Majic Bus

Has anyone out there read Professor Douglas Brinkley's magnificent ode to

American history, culture and literature, "The Majic Bus: An American

Odyssey." I am trying to institute an American Odyssey course at my

school, The University of New Mexico. Has anyone attempted this?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

--In New Mexico..searching for "it"....

"the moment when you know all and everything is decided forever"

-Kerouac

=========================================================================

Date: Sun, 14 Jul 1996 12:33:38 -0500

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: David Schmid <SCHMID@UBVMS.BITNET>

Organization: University at Buffalo

Subject: Hippos!

In Ginsberg's interview with Yves Le Pellec (Published in "Composed on the

Tongue" under the title of "The New Consciousness"), Ginsberg refers to a

text co-authored by Kerouac and Burroughs called "And the Hippos Were

Boiled in Their Tanks." Does anyone know whether it has ever appeared in

print anywhere? If it hasn't, does anyone know where the manuscript is?

Thanks.

David Schmid

SUNY Buffalo

=========================================================================

Date: Sun, 14 Jul 1996 16:50:07 EST

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: SPOTS OF TIME <breithau@KENYON.EDU>

Subject: Re: Hippos!

Wasn't that published in Burrough's INTERZONE which came out in 1989? Check

into that for the hippos...

Dave B.

=========================================================================

Date: Sun, 14 Jul 1996 21:49:45 -0400

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: Jeffrey Weinberg <Waterrow@AOL.COM>

Subject: Attn: Tony Ullyat - South Africa

Apologies to list members - I have received permission from Bill G. (thanks,

Bill!) to post this short message:

Attention: Tony Ullyat - teacher of Beat course in South Africa. Your email

address doesn't work from here. Can you please get in touch regarding Seven

Souls and Beat Speak - I have the answers you are looking for and we can help

you.

You can fax us at (508) 229-0885 or send me your mailing address and I'll air

mail information to you.

Thank you -

Jeffrey H. Weinberg

Water Row Books

=========================================================================

Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 14:59:46 -0400

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: William Miller <KenWNC@AOL.COM>

Subject: Re: Hippos!

Hello folks.

Schmid wrote:

--------------------------------------In Ginsberg's interview with Yves Le

Pellec (Published in "Composed on theTongue" under the title of "The New

Consciousness"), Ginsberg refers to a text co-authored by Kerouac and

Burroughs called "And the Hippos Were

Boiled in Their Tanks." Does anyone know whether it has ever appeared in

print anywhere? If it hasn't, does anyone know where the manuscript is?

Thanks.

David Schmid

SUNY Buffalo

----------------------------------------

I posted a similar letter about a year ago. I was told that the manuscript

was probably lost. Supposedly refers to a pre-_Junky_ era collaboration

between JK and Burroughs. A detective-style novel, or afirst American

existentialist novel, a retelling of the Carr-Kammerer incident.

that's the way I understood it.

I don't believe it's appeared in print anywhere.

regards.

william miller

PS Great thanks to Paul McDonald for sending on the Ron Whitehead interview

with Burroughs. That's why I'm on this mailing list, for exactly that sort

of item. Gracias.

=========================================================================

Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 15:19:49 -0500

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: David Schmid <SCHMID@UBVMS.BITNET>

Organization: University at Buffalo

Subject: Burroughs exhibit

In case this info. has not appeared on the list, I thought people might like

to know that the Burroughs exhibit referred to by Ron Whitehead will be at

the Spencer Museum of Art in Lawrence, KA from Oct 26, 1996 to Jan 25, 1997,

after leaving Los Angeles. LA and Lawrence will be the only two stops for this

exhibit!! The exhibition catalog can be purchased for $24.95 at the

following number - (213)857-6522. Ask for the book shop.

David Schmid

SUNY Buffalo

=========================================================================

Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 16:14:42 EDT

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: Bill Gargan <WXGBC@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Subject: Re: Hippos!

In-Reply-To: Message of Mon, 15 Jul 1996 14:59:46 -0400 from <KenWNC@AOL.COM>

On Mon, 15 Jul 1996 14:59:46 -0400 William Miller said:

>Hello folks.

>Schmid wrote:

>--------------------------------------In Ginsberg's interview with Yves Le

>Pellec (Published in "Composed on theTongue" under the title of "The New

>Consciousness"), Ginsberg refers to a text co-authored by Kerouac and

>Burroughs called "And the Hippos Were

>Boiled in Their Tanks." Does anyone know whether it has ever appeared in

>print anywhere? If it hasn't, does anyone know where the manuscript is?

>Thanks.

>David Schmid

>SUNY Buffalo

>----------------------------------------

>I posted a similar letter about a year ago. I was told that the manuscript

>was probably lost. Supposedly refers to a pre-_Junky_ era collaboration

>between JK and Burroughs. A detective-style novel, or afirst American

>existentialist novel, a retelling of the Carr-Kammerer incident.

>that's the way I understood it.

>I don't believe it's appeared in print anywhere.

>regards.

>william miller

>PS Great thanks to Paul McDonald for sending on the Ron Whitehead interview

>with Burroughs. That's why I'm on this mailing list, for exactly that sort

>of item. Gracias.

I have a dim recollection that the mss is in the hands of the Sampas family. P

erhaps someone knows more about us and will enlighten the list.

=========================================================================

Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 13:28:03 -0700

Reply-To: prinzhal@ix.netcom.com

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: John Arthur Maynard <prinzhal@IX.NETCOM.COM>

Subject: Re: Hippos!

"And the Hippos Were

> Boiled in Their Tanks." Does anyone know whether it has ever appeared in

> print anywhere?

Hard to believe the work could have lived up to the promise of the title.

I understand they appropriated same from a 100%-serious BBC report of a

fire in London.

=========================================================================

Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 19:50:15 -0400

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From: Jeffrey Weinberg <Waterrow@AOL.COM>

Subject: Re: Hippos!

I saw the Hippos manuscript in Lowell in 1992.

Jeffrey

Water Row Books

=========================================================================

Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 20:39:06 -0500

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From: David Schmid <SCHMID@UBVMS.BITNET>

Organization: University at Buffalo

Subject: Hippos!

On the subject of the inspiration of "And the Hippos Were Boiled In Their

Tanks," here's what Ginsberg gas to say in "The New Consciousness":

"He [Burroughs] and Kerouac wrote a book together by the way...called "And

The Hippos Were Boiled In Their Tanks" after a news story that they heard on

the radio. It was about a fire in, I think, the Saint Louis Zoo, which the

announcer ended: "The fire consumed two buildings and three acres of forestland

and the hippos were boiled in their tanks." Burroughs thought that this

deadpan yankee bizarre image was characteristic of the most blatantly

desensitized mad humor in America. Like saying "And the Vietnamese were

burned alive in their huts," so to speak. So that was the title and Jack and

he each wrote a chapter. It was written in the style of Raymond Chandler,

hardboiled. That was very early, before 'On the Road.' I think Sterling Lord

has the manuscript."

This of course raises more questions. Can someone tell me who Sterling Lord is,

and whether in fact Ginsberg could be right in thinking that he has the

manuscript??

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far.

David Schmid

SUNY Buffalo

=========================================================================

Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 18:50:56 -0700

Reply-To: prinzhal@ix.netcom.com

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: John Arthur Maynard <prinzhal@IX.NETCOM.COM>

Subject: Re: Hippos!

This of course raises more questions. Can someone tell me who Sterling

Lord is,

> and whether in fact Ginsberg could be right in thinking that he has the

> manuscript??

> Thanks to everyone who has responded so far.

> David Schmid

> SUNY Buffalo

He was Jack's literary agent.

=========================================================================

Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 22:24:46 -0400

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From: "W. Luther Jett" <MagenDror@AOL.COM>

Subject: About those hippos . . . .

Poor devils! This topic was raised back in March, and no real conclusion was

reached on the manuscript's existence.

Here's a selection of clippings from the thread at the time (just so no-one

needs to re-invent the wheel):

-----------------------------------------------------

On Sun, 17 Mar 1996, Matthew S Sackmann wrote:

> I'm writing to ask if anyone knows about the novel that Jack and Bill

colaberated (im a bad speller) on by that name (subject)? Was it ever

published? Have any of you read it? If so, what is it about?

> Thanx,

> -matt

Neil Hennessy replied:

No, it was never published. It was originally going to be called "I Wish I

Were You" and it dealt largely with the Carr\Kammerrer situation. Burroughs

changed the title to "And the Hippos.." and Kerouac tried his damnedest to

get it published. I would also really love to read it. It was post "Town and

the City" and pre "Junky" so it would be a formative work for both authors.

Maybe one day it'll get published, like "Queer".

Hoping,

Neil

Gary M. Gillman added:

Just for the record, I believe this was written in 1945, and thus before The

Town and the City (written from the mid- to later 40`s). Also, I have

understood the manuscript is lost, left inadvertently in a cab, although who

knows. Probably one day it will pop up somewhere, as perhaps Neil`s full

"Cherry Mary" letter will as well.

Liz Prato chimed in:

Kerouac and Burroughs co-wrote this account of the Lucien Carr slaying of

David Krammerer. According to Watson ("The Birth of the Beat Generation"),

K. tried to get it published in 1952, but it never was.

And Timothy K. Gallaher summed it all up:

>> for both authors. Maybe one day it'll get published, like "Queer".

>> Hoping,

>> Neil

>No. I recall that the manuscript was lost or destroyed. Anyone else confirm

this?

>Daniel

No I cannot confirm this.

In fact a few months ago in this list a poster stated that Ann Charters had

read the manuscript and pronounced it to be nothing special.

That is all hearsay of course, but I do believe it still exists.

I'd like to see it published also, but I think someone earlier pointed out

the main factor in this--Lucien Carr. Is he still alive?

Even after he passes away, his children could object.

BTW Caleb Carr's book Devil Soldier is quite interesting history.

=========================================================================

Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 09:17:44 EST

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: SPOTS OF TIME <breithau@KENYON.EDU>

Subject: Re: About those hippos . . . .

The question is, what did they do with those boiled hippos?

=========================================================================

Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 09:35:26 EDT

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

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From: Bill Gargan <WXGBC@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Subject: Re: Hippos!

In-Reply-To: Message of Mon, 15 Jul 1996 20:39:06 -0500 from <SCHMID@UBVMS>

On Mon, 15 Jul 1996 20:39:06 -0500 David Schmid said:

>On the subject of the inspiration of "And the Hippos Were Boiled In Their

>Tanks," here's what Ginsberg gas to say in "The New Consciousness":

>"He [Burroughs] and Kerouac wrote a book together by the way...called "And

>The Hippos Were Boiled In Their Tanks" after a news story that they heard on

>the radio. It was about a fire in, I think, the Saint Louis Zoo, which the

>announcer ended: "The fire consumed two buildings and three acres of forestland

>and the hippos were boiled in their tanks." Burroughs thought that this

>deadpan yankee bizarre image was characteristic of the most blatantly

>desensitized mad humor in America. Like saying "And the Vietnamese were

>burned alive in their huts," so to speak. So that was the title and Jack and

>he each wrote a chapter. It was written in the style of Raymond Chandler,

>hardboiled. That was very early, before 'On the Road.' I think Sterling Lord

>has the manuscript."

>This of course raises more questions. Can someone tell me who Sterling Lord is,

>and whether in fact Ginsberg could be right in thinking that he has the

>manuscript??

>Thanks to everyone who has responded so far.

>David Schmid

>SUNY Buffalo

Sterling Lord, now deceased, was a prominent NY literary agent. I believe his

agency is still going strong.

=========================================================================

Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 15:42:19 +1000

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From: JENS MOELLENHOFF <JMOELLEN@NW80.CIP.FAK14.UNI-MUENCHEN.DE>

Subject: Re: About those hippos . . . .

> The question is, what did they do with those boiled hippos?

Eat them ?

Jens

=========================================================================

Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 10:13:05 EDT

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: Bill Gargan <WXGBC@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Subject: Re: About those hippos . . . .

In-Reply-To: Message of Mon, 15 Jul 1996 22:24:46 -0400 from

<MagenDror@AOL.COM>

Thanks to WLJ for the useful summary. I think there's some evidence that it do

es exist and will look into it further.

=========================================================================

Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 13:20:14 -0400

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From: Paul McDonald - Bon Air Branch <PAUL@LOUISVILLE.LIB.KY.US>

Subject: UPDATED NEW ORLEANS BEAT EVENT INFO

Subject: Fwd: New Orleans Performer List (7/15/96)

---------------------

Forwarded message:

Subj: New Orleans Performer List (7/15/96)

Date: 96-07-15 20:06:58 EDT

From: RWhiteBone

To: Gatorino

RANT for the renaissance, The Majic Bus, & TRIBE present VOICES WITHOUT

RESTRAINT 48-Hour Non-Stop Music & Poetry INSOMNIACATHON at The New Orleans

Contemporary Arts Center and The Howlin Wolf Club August 16-18

PERFORMERS:

Amiri Baraka (poet, NJ), David Amram (musician, NY), Diane di Prima (poet,

CA), Ed Sanders (poet, NY), The Iguanas, Storyville, E. Ethelbert Miller

(poet, D.C.), Willie Smith (poet, CA), Robert Creeley (poet, NY), Ramblin'

Jack Elliott (musician, CA), Robert Palmer (writer), Hubert Selby Jr., Nicole

Blackman (poet, NYC), Hersch Silverman & Channel Nine (poet/musicians, NY),

Douglas Brinkley (writer, LA),

Ron Whitehead (poet, KY), Steve Dalachinsky (poet, NY), Frank Messina &

Spoken Motion (poet/musicians, NY), Louis Bickett (poet/artist, KY), Yusef

Komunyakaa (poet, IN), Richard Hell (poet/musician, NY), Mark Reese

(filmmaker: Premiere Jackie Robinson documentary), Chris Iovenko (filmmaker:

Harry Crews documentary), MouthAlmighty & Bob Holman's THE UNITED STATES OF

POETRY (New Orleans Premiere), Chris Felver (photographer/filmmaker, Premiere

Lawrence Ferlinghetti documentary), The Amazing Chan Klan (pop), The Black

Pig Liberation Front (multi-media band of future here now, NY), Grand Passion

(new wave from Northeast), Tyrone Cotton (blues), Susi Wood (KY mountain

folk), Gloria Tropp & Elliot Levin (singer/musician, NY), Erik LaPrade (poet,

NY), Brian Foye (poet/writer/Founder Kerouac Festival, MA), John Rechy

(writer, CA), Andrei Codrescu (renaissance man, LA), Jay McInerney (writer),

William S. Burroughs (live phone conversation), James Grauerholz (writer,

KA), Ron Seitz (poet/writer, AZ), Jim McCrary (poet, KA), John Sinclair

(poet/musician, LA), Dennis Formento (poet/writer, LA), Eleven Eleven (guilt

punk), Sander Hicks (writer, NY), Soft Skull Press (NY), Little Molasses

Theatre Company (production of RAPID CITY, NY), John S. Hall (poet/musician,

NY), The New Orleans Klezmer Allstars, Matt Kohn (poet/photographer, NY),

Kalamu Ya Salaam (poet/musician, LA), Denis Mahoney (poet/musician, RI),

Arthur Pfister (poet, LA), Hozomeen Press (NYC, CT, RI), Pop Rocket Records

(CT), Ring Tarigh (RI), White Fields Press (KY, TX), the literar renaissance

(KY), COMPOST Magazine (NY, MA), Ralph Adamo (poet, LA), W. Loran Smith

(poet, KY), Umar Aki Williams (poet, KY), Rich Martin (poet/musician, CT),

Kent Fielding (poet, AK), Todd Colby (poet, NY), John Deer (low punk),

Anastasios Kozaitis (poet, NY), Kevin Gallagher (poet, MA), Casey Cyr (poet,

NY), Phil Paradis (poet, KY), Lori Turner (poet, KY), The New Orleans Poetry

Forum, MESECHABE (LA), SPLEEN (KY), GREENPEACE, Bops Crack Boom Press! (KY),

Al McLaughlin (OH), Jordan Green (poet, KY), Will Kotheimer (poet/filmmaker,

KY), Wendy-Charly Lemmon (poet, LA), Paul McDonald (poet, KY), NEMO (poet,

NY), Annie McClanahan (poet, KY), Mickey Hess (novelist/poet, KY), Michelle

Fowler (poet, CO), Andrea Roney (poet, KY), Heather Kolf (poet, KY), IMPALA

SUPER (scruff punk), John Hagan (writer, KY), Mike Forman (poet/musician,

KY), Bruce Beroff (poet, KY), Jeff Eckman (poet, KY), Debi Coombs (poet, KY),

J.B. Wilson (poet, KY), Devin Coombs (poet, KY), Rebekah Reeves (poet, KY),

Paul Levitch (poet, KY), Luke Buckman (poet, KY), Deirdre Skaggs (poet, KY),

Gui Stuart (poet, KY), Amanda Hammons (poet, KY), David Minton (poet, KY),

Rani (poet, KY), Albert Kausch (poet, CT), Kelly Render (musician), KY),

Matthew Osborn (poet, KY), Randall Keenan (poet), Jason Powell (poet, KY),

Cotton Seiler (poet, KA), Michael Leonard (writer, NY), Allison Bona (poet,

KY), Aaron May (poet, KY), Margie Nicoll (poet, MA), Marina Karides (poet,

LA), Danielle Legros Georges (poet, NY), Seth Cohen (poet, KY), Chris Kubicek

(poet, FL), Reverend Jayne Praxis (poet, KY), Kirstin Ogden (poet, AK), Gene

Simmons (poet, AK), Kevin Johnson (poet, LA), Lee Grue (poet/musician, LA),

TRIBE Performers, Dorothy Henriques (playwright, LA), Paul Chasse

(poet/moto-biker, LA), Dr. Ahmos Zu-Bolton, LA), Christine Trimbo (poet, LA),

David Rowe (poet, LA), Dr. Jerry McGuire (poet, LA), Anne Marie (poet, LA),

Goldielox & Friends (hiphop, LA), John Bigunet (poet, LA), Cynthia Hogue

(poet, LA), Kerry Poree (poet, LA), Barbara Lamont (poet/singer, LA), Nancy

Harris (poet, LA), Dell Hall (poet, LA), Ben Gunn (poet/musician, LA), Andrea

Gereighty (poet, LA), Bonnie Fastring (poet, LA), Nancy Cotton (poet, LA),

Chris Champagne (poet, LA), Stan Bemis (poet, LA), Rene Broussard (video

artist, LA), Mada Plummer (poet, LA), Keith Clayton (vibrphonist, LA), Karen

Celestan (poet, LA), Robin Harris Thompson (singer/poet, LA), Kyla Thompsom

(singer/poet, LA), Samara Jones (poet, LA), Michael Clatyon, Valentine Pierce

(poet, LA), Kerry Poree (poet, LA), Quo Vadis Gex Breaux (poet, LA), Ted

Graham (musician, LA), Gina Ferrera (poet, LA), Robert Menuet (poet, LA),

Clara Connell (poet, LA), Regina Weinrich (writer/filmmaker: Paul Bowles

documentary), Paige DeShong (poet, TX), Kathy Randels (LA), Athena Kildegaard

(MS), Barbara Lamont (LA), Patrice Melnick (poet, LA), Mona Lisa Saloy (LA),

plus more to be added plus last minute special guest appearances.

EVENT SPONSORS:

the literary renaissance, White Fields Press, The Majic Bus, The Eisenhower

Center for American Studies at The University of New Orleans, TRIBE Magazine,

The New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center, The Howlin Wolf Club, EXQUISITE

CORPSE Magazine, The City of New Orleans, The New Orleans Poetry Forum, The

Louisiana Endowment for The Humanities.

For Performance & Event info contact Ron Whitehead (Event Producer) at

502/568/4956 (e-mail RWhiteBone@worldnet.att.net) or Lee Levert (Eisenhower

Center) at 504/286/7110.

=========================================================================

Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 13:07:33 EST

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: SPOTS OF TIME <breithau@KENYON.EDU>

Subject: Re: About those hippos . . . .

They made "One Ton" soup.

=========================================================================

Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 13:12:11 EST

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

From: SPOTS OF TIME <breithau@KENYON.EDU>

Subject: Re: Hippos!

When is Lord's agency going to release some of this Kerouac material, or is it

also tied up in the Keroauc estate?

=========================================================================

Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 16:03:40 -0400

Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.BITNET>

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From: Ted Harms <tmharms@LIBRARY.UWATERLOO.CA>

Subject: beat: fiction or non-fiction

It just hit me a few days ago that what Jack Kerouac wrote really

happened. I'm not trying to display my ignorance, it was just a weird

moment of clarity...

I always approached his work as fiction - sure, maybe there was some germ

of real life that he snowballed into an entire novel but I always felt as

I was reading him that it was an imaginary travelogue.

But then I'm thinking about the part in Big Sur where he and 'Cody' (Neal

Cassady) leave the play that Cody's wife had designed the set for and

then I recall Carolyn Cassady telling her end of the story in 'Off the

Road'. This, led to some near ephinany to me as I linked these two

events in history by cross-referencing and suddenly there was an air

of credibility to Jack's account.

What followed then was me thinking that Kerouac's so-called 'fiction' (I

mean, that's where you find it in the bookstore.) is really non-fiction