MetaChat is an informal place for MeFites to touch base and post, discuss and
chatter about topics that may not belong on MetaFilter. Questions? Check the FAQ. Please note: This is important.
03 June 2009
Today is Allen Ginsberg's birthday. This post at PopMatters has a video of him doing a reading, and the animated expression on his face towards the end of it makes me glad we had him in the world, and also sad that he's gone.
I was at a reading in Santa Cruz, and he was reading a long poem, when someone handed him a note saying that a bomb threat had been called in to the building. He incorporated this into his poem, and everyone VERY calmly evacuated, then returned in a time for the remainder of the reading.
I too was fortunate to see him read, way back in the early nineties. A really great reading and something I'm truly grateful I got to experience. Allen was doing readings all the time around then, but you could tell he really enjoyed it. America's last great poet IMO.
photo by splunge
photo by TheophileEscargot
photo by Kronos_to_Earth
photo by ethylene
