I wouldn't blame anyone who had no idea who he was. He was the silent member of the Jack Kerouac entourage, the lover of Allen Ginsburg, the next to the last surviving member of an alumni association that included the likes of William Burroughs, Gregory Corso, Neal Cassidy; and now only has Lawrence Ferlinghetti to tell their story among the living. We are witnessing the demise of the Beatnik Kabal. A generation that has influenced countless others from Bob Dylan to Jackson Pollack, from Frank O'Hara to Miles Davis. As anonymous a member he was of the original crew, his passing will no doubt be as anonymous.... Perhaps he would like it this way, and that's really the ultimate eulogy; to die as one wants....
Friday, June 04, 2010
Peter Orlovsky has died....
I wouldn't blame anyone who had no idea who he was. He was the silent member of the Jack Kerouac entourage, the lover of Allen Ginsburg, the next to the last surviving member of an alumni association that included the likes of William Burroughs, Gregory Corso, Neal Cassidy; and now only has Lawrence Ferlinghetti to tell their story among the living. We are witnessing the demise of the Beatnik Kabal. A generation that has influenced countless others from Bob Dylan to Jackson Pollack, from Frank O'Hara to Miles Davis. As anonymous a member he was of the original crew, his passing will no doubt be as anonymous.... Perhaps he would like it this way, and that's really the ultimate eulogy; to die as one wants....
Well, if you want to find out more about who Peter was -- and he wasn't so silent! -- I wrote an elegy for him:
ReplyDeleteImpossible Happiness, for Peter Orlovsky
Steve, Thanks! I did, very beautiful. I certainly meant no offense at my characterization, I would however clarify my comment with the idea that for me, he was the one of the bunch that I know the least about and whose contributions to our culture are least known, and again that my perspective...as a non-student of but a distant admirer.
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