"Ginsberg & Beat Fellows" & Gordon Ball

(Gordon Ball at the library's Meeting Room on Tuesday, October 7th.)

Beat historian, underground filmmaker and author Gordon Ball came to speak at the Greenwich Library on Tuesday night, October 7th, in the Meeting Room. Mr. Ball, who currently teaches English at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, read from his memoirs '66 Frames (1999), Dark Hill (2006) and Scenes From East Hill Farm: Seasons With Allen Ginsberg (2007), and showed a slide presentation of his program on the Beats, Ginsberg & Beat Fellows: Writings & Photographs by Gordon Ball , coincidentally the title of that night's program.

Mr. Ball read from his books about his first meeting with Ginsberg, how the poet talked him into overseeing his farm in upstate New York and how he met such Beat (and Beat-related figures) as Gregory Corso, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Robert Creeley , Peter Oslosky and Anne Waldman . Ginsberg had hoped the farm he bought in 1968 would be a haven for his fellow artists to "cleanse" themselves (like Corso and Oslosky, who had major chemical dependence problems) and held out the ultimately futile dream that old friend Jack Kerouac (already a full-blown alcoholic by that time)would come by for that purpose. Needless to say, that never happened.


(Gordon Ball and friends at Ginsberg's East Hill Farm, appx. 1969.)

Below is a picture from Mr. Ball's Beat Fellows presentation: a picture he took of Ginsberg and fellow Beat (and all-around scary guy) Herbert Huncke :


More of Mr. Ball's pictures can be found on his web site here . If you click on a photo, you'll see both a larger image and a description of the picture and what led up to that particular moment. (Lots of good stuff!) This picture below taken by Mr. Ball is a favorite of mine:


Mr. Ball graciously gave us a copy of his '66 Frames memoir and expressed hope that a longer version of Scenes From East Hill Farm (which he's completed) will see the light of day soon. -Ed

See also: Bill Morgan's I Celebrate Myself: The Somewhat Private Life of Allen Ginsberg (which can be found here and Mr. Morgan's collection, The Letters of Allen Ginsberg .

Jack Kerouac: King Of The Beats

From Google Video. A 72 minute podcast of a documentary on the author of On The Road . Enjoy. -Ed

David Amram at Greenwich Library - 05/12/08

(David Amram at the library's Cole Auditorium on May 12.)

We got fifteen people to attend Mr. Amram's program on May 12. This was probably one of the best (and certainly the happiest) "Beat Generation" program I've done. No small thanks to Mr. Amram, who's still full of enthusiasm about his life and work after all these years!

-Ed

Update: David Amram Appearance Rescheduled for May 12th

Due to unforseen circumstances, the April 4th appearance of musician and Beat figure David Amram has been postponed. Mr. Amram will now speak at Greenwich Library on May 12th at 3:00 pm in the second floor Meeting Room. I'll be sending updates as the May date nears.

To give you a taste of his upcoming appearance, here's a brief, 3 1/2 minute video of Mr. Amram at his farm playing one of the many instruments from his collection:




-Ed

Related link: David Amram's Home Page

Jazz Composer & Beat Figure David Amram to appear at Greenwich Library April 4th

After a short hiatus, Greenwich Library's Beat Generation Discussion Series returns Friday, April 4th at 2:00 pm, with special guest speaker David Amram. Mr. Amram is an accomplished Jazz and Classical musician/composer who's worked with the likes of Leonard Bernstein and Charles Mingus. He also composed the title song and theme music for the 1959 experimental film Pull My Daisy written by and starring Beat author Jack Kerouac . Mr. Amram is also the author of three books about his life and career, the most recent of which is Upbeat: Nine Lives of a Musical Cat (Paradigm; 2007), that he'll read from.

Below is a video of a 2002 performance of Mr. Amram and his band:



Mr. Amram has his own web site, which you can find here . He will also discuss his work 50 years ago with Jack Kerouac when they created the first jazz poetry readings ever presented in New York City in 1957, as well as reading from his second book Offbeat: Collaborating with Jack Kerouac (Thunders' Mouth Press; 2002). Mr. Amram will also demonstrate some of the instruments from around the world which he has learned to play.




The program will begin at 2:00 pm in the Meeting Room, open to all.

-Ed

Troia Has Arrived!

A while back, I mentioned searching for a copy of Bonnie Bremser's Troia: Mexican Memoirs, her 1969 account of how she prostituted herself on the streets of Mexico in the early sixties to get money to support her and her husband (Beat poet Ray Bremser)'s drug addiction. The book was finally reprinted late last year by Dalkey Archive Press & I managed to get a copy. Probably the only Beat novel written by a woman, Troia is an exciting and harrowing account of Bremser's various adventures from that period.




I had first heard of the memoir from Tufts University Professor Ronna C. Johnson, co-editor of Girls Who Wore Black: Women Writing the Beat Generation (2002; Rutgers University Press), who spoke about the work at the Kerouac Conference in Lowell, MA last October. Professor Johnson's take on Troia captures the work perfectly as seen at www.bookforum.com (do a search for "bremser"). I don't think I can add anything more to it. So I'll see about putting in a Purchase Request for it and the Girls Who Wore Black book. -Ed

Related link: http://www.womenofthebeat.org/Brenda%20Frazer/BrendaFrazer.htm

Covers Of Beat Books (Boy, I Wish I Had Some of These!)

My interest in the Beats hasn't waned. Due to outside circumstances, a post I planned to do on the role women played in the creative processes of Jack Kerouac & the other Beats has been delayed. I'm currently searching for a copy of Brenda Frazer's reissued post-Beat 1969 novel/memoir Troia as well as reading a collection of essays on female Beats (Girls Who Wore Black: Women Writing The Beat Generation, edited by Ronna C. Johnson & Nancy M. Grace; Rutgers, 2002) so I'll know what I'm talking about.




Meanwhile, to whet the appetites of those interested in the Beats, I'd thought I'd showcase some covers of both pivotal works & various cash-in items. Enjoy!












-Ed