Famous Writers With Whom I’ve Been Published

“Famous” Writers, Artists & Authors with whom I’ve been published (ideally) listed as we appeared in the same publication issue(s) & not just the same series (i.e., specifically “Vol. 4” — NOT just any random issue of a publication)

Many famous people have been “lucky” enough to be published alongside me over the past 35+ years, or more accurately I’ve often been the lucky one to appear with them. Recently I thought I’d try to list as many as I could find evidence of & not just go off of a questionable memory. I’ve made every effort to ensure those listed appeared in at least one specific publication, issue or book with me at some point. Some appeared many dozens of times with me in many publications. Some I know/knew personally and/or professionally while others were simply names I recognized. I’m leaving out many other famous writers with whom I never shared publication in the same specific issues or volumes of a publication to my knowledge, but whom I know, have met socially or professionally, & in many cases did appear in other issues of the series that published me. I’m also most certainly leaving out many I’ve not thought of, recalled, found, confirmed, etc. However this list is an indefinite work in progress as I continue coming across copies of magazines, anthologies, textbooks & journals where I find I was published with “X.” Some I’d forgotten, so this has been an enjoyable project. (I’m working on this project because many moves [& a massive very bad one two years ago] have resulted in the loss or destruction of what has seemed like my entire career, missing all of my books & thousands of contributor copies as well as countless other irreplaceable items. After 2022 started, I finally was able to start unpacking tons of boxes throughout the house, basements, storage units, etc., hoping to find boxes containing any my work & other important things, including hundreds of books personally autographed to me by Ginsberg, Bukowski, Ferlinghetti, Burroughs & more. Sickened at the thought of never finding anything, it’s been a relief to come across some, not even half, but some more as I keep searching. Thus the “Work In Progress” label.)

Many on this list are obvious “crossovers” as they work in multiple & diverse fields & genres, so I’ve made an executive decision to place them in just one category — basically the one for which they’re best known.

Finally, how does one define “fame?” I’m making it as simple as I can.  About half of people on this list are poets. Many are small press, experimental, activist, counterculture — not literary mainstream. However there are also many mainstream (mostly academic) poets as well. Others writers listed include novelists, playwrights, screenwriters, genre specialists as well as writers of literary fiction, creative nonfiction, etc. There are some separate categories for Beat writers, artists & a section called “Other” that represents people I’ve been published with who are known more as musicians, actors, artists, etc., & not as traditional “writers.” Many on this list won’t be well known outside of their literary communities while others are household names & legends. Ultimately It’s up to readers to determine any fame to assign a person. Keep in mind that all here have reputations they’ve earned, even if not universally known, & if you don’t know them, perhaps you’ll have an incentive to get to know them now.

Scott C. Holstad

June 17, 2022

CATAGORIES

  1. Poets
    1. Small press, experimental, slam, spoken word, alternative, activist
    2. Mainstream, literary, academic, “The Academy”
  2. Fiction/Novelists
    1. Genre, counterculture, screenwriters
    2. Literary, mainstream, etc.
  3. Beat (& related) poets & writers
  4. Nonfiction, Creative Nonfiction – Essays, biographies, memoirs, history, academic, lit crit, etc.
  5. Artists – Painters, illustrators, graphic artists, cover art, etc.
  6. Other – Musicians, celebrities, criminals, actors…

*** Individual distinctions, awards & anything else will be added to some of these names, but not all because I can’t add all of these details for everyone. I’m also noting the ones I know of who are no longer living.

POETS

Small press, experimental, slam, spoken word, alternative, activist, counterculture

  1. Rafael Alvarado
  2. RD “Raindog” Armstrong – [Poet, writer, publisher of Lummox Journal & Lummox Press. Creator of the infamous Little Red Book series, often compared to City Lights’ Pocket Poet series.]
  3. David Aldridge
  4. Ron Androla
  5. Shane Allison
  6. John M Bennett
  7. Glenn Bach
  8. Gregory KH Bryant
  9. Gina Bergamino
  10. Janet Buck
  11. Douglas Blazek – [Poet, editor & publisher. Played major role in bringing up, supporting & publicizing people like Bukowski, R Crumb, DA Levy, etc.]
  12. Laurel Ann Bogen
  13. Ace Boggess
  14. Alan Catlin
  15. RT Castleberry
  16. Ana Pine Christy – [Poet, publisher of Cokefish (a hugely influential small press magazine printing Bukowski, myself & many other prominent writers in the small press world) & co-publisher of everything published by Alpha Beat Press, including Alpha Beat Soup & Bouillabaise with late husband Dave Christy. Alpha Beat Press is known for its emphasis & publication of Beat & post-Beat writers such as Diane di Prima, Jan Kerouac, Robert Creeley, Antler, Bukowski, Carolyn Cassidy & many others. Oh, & me! It’s prominent enough to be housed in SUNY Buffalo’s Special Collections Library under the title Alpha Beat Press Collection.]
  17. Gregory Courson
  18. Robert Cooperman
  19. Judson Crews – [Poet & publisher. Among many he published were Creeley, Baraka, J Anderson, di Prima & Bukowski. Known for being one of Henry Miller’s best friends. His papers are archived at the Yale Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, UCLA Young Research Library Special Collections, University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & the Harry Ransom Special Collections Center at the University of Texas.]
    1. Deceased: 1917 – 2010
  20. Alan Catlin
  21. Wanda Coleman – [NEA, CalArts & Guggenheim fellowships, Emmy winner, called “the unofficial poet laureate of Los Angeles.” Wanda Coleman’s Papers are archived in the UCLA Charles E. Young Research Library (YRL) Special Collections.]
    1. Deceased: 1946 – 2013
  22. Holly Day
  23. Andrew Demcak
  24. Keith Dodson
  25. Catherine Daly
  26. Ray DiPalma
  27. Doug Draime
    1. Deceased: 1943 – 2015
  28. Jim DeWitt
    1. Deceased: 1925 – 2003
  29. Maggie Estep
    1. Deceased: 1963 – 2014
  30. Michael Estabrook
  31. Greg Evason
  32. Keith Flynn
  33. Edward Field – [Poet, novelist, editor, nonfiction, screenwriter. Winner of Lamont, Lambda, WH Auden, Prix de Rome awards, a Guggenheim fellowship & an Academy Award (Oscar) for Documentary; one of my most personally respected and oldest literary friends and colleagues. An unforgettable talent and person. The Edward Field Papers are housed at the University of Delaware Library Special Collections. You’ll find me in his Long Beach Poets Collection,1969-1994 (Box 7, F262) and Personal Correspondence, 1953-1994 (Box 11, F166).]
  34. Hugh Fox – [Poet, novelist, author of 62+ books, co-inventor of Pushcart Prize; 1st to publish a critical study on Bukowski. The Hugh Fox Papers collection is housed in the Special Collections at UC Santa Barbara’s Davidson Library.
    1. Deceased: 1932- 2011
  35. Michael C. Ford
  36. Elliot Fried
  37. Lisa Glatt
  38. Tony Gloeggler
  39. John Grey
  40. Taylor Graham – [Poet Laureate of El Dorado County, CA – greater Sacramento]
  41. S.A. Griffin — The Griffin (S.A.) Collection of Underground Poetry, Scott Wannberg, and The Carma Bums is housed at UCLA Charles E. Young Library, Special Collections.
  42. Bob Grumman
    1. Deceased: 1941 – 2015
  43. Michael Hathaway
  44. Eloise Klein Healy – [Award-winning poet; first Poet Laureate of Los Angeles]
  45. David Hernandez
  46. Donna Hilbert
  47. Anselm Hollo
  48. Mike Halchin
  49. Robert Howington
  50. Albert Huffstickler
    1. Deceased: 1927 – 2002
  51. Will Inman—The Collected Works of Will Inman are housed in the University of North Carolina Wilmington Randall Library Special Collections & the Will Inman Papers, 1939-1999 collection is part of Duke University Library Special Collections.
    1. Deceased: 1923 – 2009
  52. Ted Jonathan
  53. Marilyn Johnson
  54. Collin Kelley
  55. Todd Kalinski
  56. Richard Kostelanetz
  57. Ron Koertge – [Poet, YA fiction author. Has won CalArts & NEA grants & fellowships as well as a Pushcart Prize. Is the Poet Laureate of South Pasadena.)
  58. Len Krisak – [Poet, translator, author; among various honors, he has won the Richard Wilber Prize, Robert Frost Prize, Robert Penn Warren Prize and was a four-time Jeopardy champion, resulting in his being invited to compete in that year’s Tournament of Champions. I published him in RRR.]
  59. Thomas Kretz
  60. Karl Koweski
  61. Rick Lupert
  62. Brent T. Leake
    1. Deceased: 1952 – 2017
  63. Stellasue Lee
  64. GP Lainsbury
  65. Catherine Lynn
  66. Linda Lerner
  67. Suzanne Lummis
  68. Gerald Locklin — Poet, novelist, critic, editor, author of 150+ books, 3K poems, one of Bukowski’s best friends; CSULB professor for 42 years; defined SoCal lit; King of what Edward Field called the Long Beach School of Poetry; unofficial poet laureate of Long Beach if not SoCal; my colleague, mentor, friend. Can never be replaced. The Gerald Locklin Papers are housed at USC Doheney Memorial Library, Special Collections. A larger collection is being prepared at California State University Long Beach.
    1. Deceased: 1941 – 2021!
  69. Lyn Lifshin — Poet, author of 130+ books, one of the most heavily published poets in the world; gave 700+ public readings; subject of infamous documentary film; referred to as “Queen of the Small Presses.”; a dear friend I’ll always miss] [Through the years I served as poetry editor at RRR, I published so much of her stuff, it seemed that I ultimately published two books of hers in serialized form. Ironically, I also published her over 20 years previously in the Big Head Press Broadside series.]
    1. Deceased: 1942 – 2019!
  70. Adrian C. Louis
    1. Deceased: 1946 – 2018
  71. Duane Locke — Poet, painter, professor; 15+ books, 6000K+ poems published. His papers are archived in the University of Florida Special Collections George A. Smathers Libraries.
    1. Deceased: 1921 – 2019
  72. RB Morris – Writer, musician, poet, song writer; Knoxville TN Poet Laureate.
  73. Catfish McDaris — The Catfish McDaris Collection Records 1969-Present is featured in Marquette University Raynor Memorial Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives.
  74. Wendell Metzger — The Wendell Metzger Papers, 1941 – 2002 are housed in Metzger’s hometown of Seattle in the University of Washington Special Collections library.
    1. Deceased: 1942 – 2003
  75. Tony Moffeit
  76. Marvin Malone — I can be found in several collections at Cambridge University’s famed series of Special Collections and Rare Books, at least one-two of which are affiliated with Malone. Incidentally, I’ve always found it odd that as far as I’ve seen over the years, the esteemed Cambridge is the only entity to have gotten my birth date/year wrong, even while identifying me as a “Poet (person)” and yet they’ve made me younger by several years. At this age, I guess I should be grateful, eh? I’m always grateful to Cambridge.
    1. Deceased: 1930 – 1996
  77. Sheila E. Murphy – One of the best, most well known & successful LANGUAGE & experimental postmodern poets of the past 30 years. The Sheila E. Murphy Poetry Collection is housed at The Ohio State University Library Rare Books & Manuscripts.
  78. Todd Moore
    1. Deceased: 1937 – 2010
  79. BZ Niditch
  80. Dan Nielsen
  81. Walt Phillips –The Walt Phillips Small Press Collection (1959-1999) is part of the Sonoma State University Library Special Collections.
    1. Deceased: 1937 – 2013
  82. Simon Perchik — A dear friend I greatly respected, whom I was published alongside many times for years and whom I continuously published during my 6 years as poetry editor for Ray’s Road Review. His death hit me hard, as did Locklin, Lifshin, di Prima and others, because they all seemed to occur so closely together and not too long ago even as I write this. The Simon Perchik Papers are housed at the Yale University Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
    1. Deceased: 1923 – 2022!!!
  83. Kenneth Pobo
  84. Jonathan Penton
  85. Elisha Porat – [Hebrew poet & writer; awarded Israel’s Prime Minister’s Prize for Hebrew Literary Works]
    1. Deceased: 1938 – 2013
  86. Robert Peters –The Robert Peters Papers, 1970 – 1998 collection is archived at Bowling Green State University Libraries Archives and Special Collections.
    1. Deceased: 1924 – 2014
  87. Tony Quagliano
    1. Deceased: 1941 – 2007
  88. Steve Richmond
    1. Deceased: 1941 – 2009
  89. Sal Salasin
    1. Deceased: 1948 – 2009
  90. Michael Rothenberg
  91. CF Roberts
  92. Dan Raphael
  93. Cheryl Snell
  94. Bill Shields
  95. Julia Stein
  96. Belinda Subraman – The Belinda Subraman Papers are housed at the University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections. You’ll find me in Section II. Correspondence, 1982-1994. I’m also in her section, Published Work, 1975-1982, where she cited her publication by Big Head Press, my publishing house & where I served as publisher/editor for years.
  97. T Kilgore Splake — The T. Kilgore Splake Papers collection is housed at The Ohio State University Rare Books & Manuscripts Library while the T. Kilgore Splake Collection is housed in the Michigan Technological University Archives.
  98. Dan Sicoli
  99. Sparrow
  100. Danny Shot
  101. Laurel Speer
  102. Joan Jobe Smith
  103. Cheryl Townsend
  104. Thomas L Vaultonburg
  105. Fred Voss
  106. Paul Weinman
    1. Deceased: 1940 – 2015
  107. Scott Wannberg–The Griffin (S.A.) Collection of Underground Poetry, Scott Wannberg, and The Carma Bums is housed at UCLA Charles E. Young Library, Special Collections.
    1. Deceased: 1953- 2011
  108. Lawrence Welsh
  109. Mark Weber
  110. Charles Harper Webb – [Poet, editor, musician, psychotherapist, professor. His honors include a Gugenheim Fellowship, the Felix Pollack Prize, a Pushcart Prize & a Whiting Award. Coined the term/phrase “Stand Up Poetry,” resulting its graduate acceptance and use at poetry reading & slams, producing two anthologies that were meant to provide examples.]
  111. Mickey Z
  112. Lisa Zaran

Mainstream, literary, academic, “The Academy”

  1. Ai – [1999 National Book Award for Poetry winner]
    1. Deceased: 1947 – 2010
  2. Sherman Alexie – [2010 PEN Fiction award winner, 1999 National Book Award for YA Lit]
  3. Kim Addonizio
  4. Saadia Ali Aschemann
  5. Nin Andrews
  6. Miguel Algarin
    1. Deceased: 1941 – 2020
  7. Robb Allan
    1. Deceased: 1945 – 2021
  8. Robert Bly – Minnesota Poet Laureate. The Robert Bly Papers are housed within the University of Minnesota Archives and Special Collections Library.
    1. Deceased: 1926 – 2021
  9. Cathy Smith Bowers – North Carolina Poet Laureate [A great friend, wonderful person and amazing talent]
  10. Pat Boran
  11. Ruth Bavetta
  12. Peter Bakowski
  13. Gwendolyn Brooks – Pulitzer winner, Illinois Poet Laureate, US POET LAUREATE. The Gwendolyn Brooks Papers, 1917-2000 collection is maintained at the UC Berkeley Bancroft Library Special Collections.
    1. Deceased: 1917 – 2000
  14. David Chorlton
  15. Billy Collins – New York Poet Laureate, US POET LAUREATE. The Billy Collins Papers are archived at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas.
  16. Tom Chandler – (Rhode Island Poet Laureate emeritus)
  17. Andrei Codrescu
  18. Tom Clark — The Tom Clark Papers, 1963-1991 collection is housed in the UCLA Charles E. Young Research Library Special Collections.
    1. Deceased: 1941 – 2018
  19. Robert Creeley – New York Poet Laureate. The Robert Creeley Papers collection is housed at the Stanford Library Dept of Special Collections and University Archives.
  20. JP Dancing Bear
  21. Denise Duhamel
  22. Jim Daniels
  23. Ruth Daigon
  24. Edward Dorn
  25. Sharon Doubiago
  26. Clayton Eshleman
  27. Andrew Glaze – [Poet, playwright, spoken word; Alabama Poet Laureate]
    1. Deceased: 1920 – 2016
  28. Jeannine Hall Gailey – (Poet Laureate of Redmond, WA)
  29. Sandra M. Gilbert – [Poet, feminist literary critic; MLA President; 2002 American Book Award for Poetry]
  30. Dana Gioia – Poet, literary critic, essayist, California Poet Laureate
  31. Diane Glancy
  32. Joy Harjo – 2013 American Book Award, US POET LAUREATE
  33. Seamus Heaney – Poet; winner of the 1995 NOBEL PRIZE in Literature
    1. Deceased: 1939 – 2013
  34. Rita Ann Higgins – The Rita Ann Higgins Papers, 1968-2017 collection is archived at Emory University Stuart A Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library.
  35. Rochelle Lynn Holt – The Rochelle Lynn Holt Papers, 1970-1991 are housed in the University of Iowa Special Collections Library.
  36. Garrett Hongo
  37. Marilyn Hacker National Book Award, several PEN awards
  38. Bob Hicok
  39. Colette Inez
    1. Deceased: 1931 – 2018
  40. Allison Joseph
  41. Richard Jackson
  42. Lowell Jaeger — Montana Poet Laureate
  43. Major Jackson – Winner of many awards/honors such as NEA & Guggenheim Fellowships as well as a Pushcart Prize, Whiting Award, Witter Bynner Fellowship & more
  44. Marilyn Kallet — Poet, translator, essayist. Leads writing residencies & workshops in Auvillar France & the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Professor Emerita at the University of Tennessee, where she chaired the Creative Writing program for over 25 years. Knoxville TN Poet Laureate. (One of my very longest & best writing & personal friends…)
  45. Amy King
  46. Bill Knott [National Book Award]
    1. Deceased: 1940 – 2014
  47. Willie James King
  48. XJ Kennedy — Poet, editor, anthologist, translator; oversees production, publication of huge number of Intro to Lit college textbooks for Pearson, Longman, HarperCollins, etc.; winner of the Lamont Poetry Prize, NEA & Guggenheim Fellowships, the Robert Frost Medal & many more; former Paris Review editor
  49. Dorianne Laux – Poet, professor; winner of Paterson Prize, Pushcart Prize, NEA & Guggenheim fellowships, a Pulitzer Prize finalist & much more. The Dorianne Louise Laux Papers 1968-2019 collection is housed in the NC State University Archival Collections.
  50. Terri McCord
  51. Susan Meyers
    1. Deceased: 1945 – 2017
  52. Stephen Massimilla
  53. Sinead Morrissey
  54. Emmanuel Moses
  55. Alice Notley
  56. William Matthews
    1. Deceased: 1942 – 1997
  57. Ed Ochester
  58. Linda Parsons
  59. Wanda Phipps
  60. Frederick Pollack
  61. Willie Perdomo
  62. Holly Prado
    1. Deceased: 1938 – 2019
  63. Ron Rash
  64. Ishmael Reed – Poet, novelist, essayist, editor/publisher, playwright, songwriter. Winner of many awards/honors such as NEA, Guggenheim & MacArthur Foundation Fellowships as well as the Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Award & the Langston Hughes Medal, among many others. The Ishmael Reed Papers 1964-1995 collection is housed in the University of Delaware Special Collections Library.
  65. Kay Ryan– US POET LAUREATE
  66. Adrienne Rich — Poet, feminist activist; honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, National Book Award, the Robert Frost medal, Wallace Stevens Award, a MacArthur Fellowship & more. The Papers of Adrienne Rich, 1927-1999 collection is housed at Harvard Library, Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute.
    1. Deceased: 1929 – 2012
  67. William Pitt Root – Tucson Poet Laureate
  68. Arthur Smith
    1. Deceased: 1948 – 2018
  69. Hugh Seidman
  70. Barry Spacks – Award-winning poet; also novelist and artist. First Poet Laureate of Santa Barbara. The Barry Spacks Papers are housed in UC Santa Barbara Library, Special Research Collections.
    1. Deceased: 1931 – 2014
  71. Glen Sorestad
  72. Gerald Stern – The Gerald Stern Papers, 1920s-2012 are housed at the University of Pittsburgh ULS Archives & Special Collections.
  73. RT Smith
  74. Sonia Sanchez – Poet, playwright, activist. Activist in Civil Rights movement in a leader of the Black Arts Movement (with Nikki Giovanni). Winner of many awards/honors, including NEA & PEN Fellowships, American Book Award, Wallace Stevens Award, Langston Hughes Poetry Award, Robert Creeley Award, Robert Frost Medal & the Dorothy & Lillian Gish Prize. First Poet Laureate of Philadelphia.
  75. Ron Sillimen
  76. Virgil Suarez
  77. Charles Simic – Former Paris Review poetry editor. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize, Wallace Stevens Award, a MacArthur Fellowship & a Robert Frost Medal. US POET LAUREATE. The Charles Simic Papers, 1958-2018 are housed at the University of New Hampshire Special Collections & Archives Library.
  78. Clifton Snider — The Clifton Snider Papers, 1971-2016 collection is maintained at ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California. He and I went way back and it was another shock to learn he died so recently. We had kept in touch through many years and I had published him in RRR several times.
    1. Deceased: 1947 – 2021!
  79. Bunkong Tuan
  80. Quincy Troupe First California Poet Laureate
  81. David Trinidad
  82. Richard Wilbur National Book Award, Two-time Pulitzer winner, US POET LAUREATE.
    1. Deceased: 1921 – 2017
  83. Charles Wright – Winner of a Pulitzer Prize, a National Book Critics Circle Award & was named US POET LAUREATE. The Papers of Charles Wright reside at the University of Virginia Special Collecton,
  84. Dean Young – Texas Poet Laureate
  85. Yevgeny Yevtushenko — Russian poet, writer, publisher, filmmaker, academic. Among his innumerable international awards were the USSR State Prize, State Prize of the Russian Federation (generally considered comparable to a Russian Nobel Prize), a 2008 Nobel Prize nomination, several honorary doctorates, the Golden Lion International Prize (the highest prize awarded at the Venice Film Festival) & Astroid 4234 Evtushenko named after him in 1994. The stature of his bibliography is stunning.
    1. Deceased: 1933 – 2017

Fiction/Novelists

Genre, Counterculture, Screenwriters

  1. Laurie Halse Anderson
  2. Neal Asher
  3. Bruce Boston – [Known for his speculative fiction (horror) writing, he’s also had some 40+ poetry collections published over the decades & the majority of his honors have come from the poetry end of things & not so much fiction. A few examples of his accomplishments & honors include Rhysling Award for Speculative Poetry (7 times), Asimov’s Readers Award for Poetry (7 times), a Pushcart Prize & four (4) Bram Stoker Awards.]
  4. Poppy Z. Brite
  5. Stepan Chapman
    1. Deceased: 1951 – 2014
  6. Gary Crawford
    1. Deceased: 1953 – 2020!
  7. Andrew Darlington
  8. Denise Dumars
  9. Wayne Edwards
  10. William R. Eakin
  11. Harlan Ellison – [Legendary & controversial sci fi & horror writer, as well as nonfiction, essayist, critic, screenwriter; too many awards to count, one of the most decorated writers in history, he won eight (8) Hugo Awards, two Melies fantasy film awards, a Bradbury Award,four (4) Nebula Awards, two Edgar Awards, five (5) Bram Stoker Awards, various Lifetime Achievement awards & he was inducted into Science Fiction Hall of Fame.]
    1. Deceased: 1934 – 2018
  12. Dan Fante
    1. Deceased: 1944 – 2015
  13. Emily Franklin
  14. Ed Gorman– [Crime, mystery, horror & genre short fiction. Edgar & Bram Stoker Award nominee. Winner of the International Horror Writers Award & Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America.]
    1. Deceased: 1941 – 2016
  15. William Gibson — [Legendary, hugely influential speculative fiction author, largely presumed to have created/pioneered two new science fiction sub-genres with his initial early work, & then later while collaborating with Bruce Sterling. The first sub-genre developed out of a short story to become his infamous debut novel, Neuromancer. With its focus on tech, networks, cybernetics, etc., it was easy to move to the term”cyberpunk” & in fact Gibson coined the term “cyberspace” in that novel. Gibson displayed a shocking realistic view of what much of the future Internet would be like, how people would act, and this was long before the public Internet existed, just after the ARPANET had been widened for more use & even BBS’s were largely unknown. After completing his trilogy in that series, He teamed with Sterling to do a new kind of alternative history novel, which resulted in the popular sub-genre called “steampunk.” The Guardian named him to likely be the most important novelist of the last several decades & among his awards are a Philip K Dick Award, as well as Nebulas, Hugos & more.]
  16. Hugh Gross
  17. reg E. gaines — [Poet, Broadway star, Grammy-nominated lyricist, Tony Award-winning playwright.]
  18. Barry Gifford – Novelist, poet, essayist, nonfiction, screenwriter; he has had both novels adapted for film (by David Lynch) & has written screenplays for David Lynch, Matt Dillon & more… The Barry Gifford Papers comprise more than 48 boxes of archival material (which is pretty extensive, but actually 75 boxes total). The collection is maintained by Stanford University Library Dept of Special Collections and University Archives.
  19. Jon L Herron
  20. Brian A. Hopkins
  21. Charlee Jacob
    1. Deceased: 1952 – 2019
  22. Nigel Jarrett
  23. Caitlin R. Kiernan
  24. Erren Kelly
  25. Stephen King – Author of 70+ novels, fiction, sci fi, fantasy, crime writer. Best known as horror writer. His books have sold over 350 million copies, many adapted into films and television series. Among his numerous honors are 15 Bram Stoker Awards, five Locus Awards, six British Fantasy Awards, Edgar, Hugo, & O. Henry Awards. The Stephen King Literary Papers, 1968— archive had been created and maintained at the University of Main’s Special Collection’s Library, but recently (around 2019) the collection was moved to houses on a property King and his family own that are being collectively transformed into a writer’s retreat. The collection will thus be housed at the Bangor Archives and Retreat and will not be open to the public and made available only to approved researchers/scholars by appointment.
  26. Edward Lee – The ONLY writer (horror or otherwise) to truly & consistently scare the shit out of me. Amazing talent!
  27. DF Lewis
  28. Corey Mesler
  29. Deena Metzger
  30. Valerie Nieman
  31. Keith Ridgeway
  32. Anne Rice — Do I really need to say anything? She DID ask, badger & convince me to read her son Chris’s debut novel, as she was trying to generate support for him. I agreed, it was much better than I expected for a debut. * Sadly, she died just a month or two ago, simply the latest in a damned long line of writers & friends on this list & elsewhere. The official comprehensive Anne Rice Collection was acquired and is housed at Tulane University Special Collections Library.
    1. Deceased: 1941 – 2021!
  33. Wayne Allen Sallee
  34. Marge Simon – [Prolific author, specializing in genres such as speculative fiction, horror, sci fi as well as poetry. She is perhaps equally known for her immensely successful artistry career, particularly the hundreds of book and magazine illustrations for which she’s been commissioned. She did the cover art for one of my books.]
  35. Mike Sauve
  36. John Shirley
  37. Jeffrey Thomas
  38. Scott H Urban
  39. Don Webb

Literary, mainstream, etc.

  1. T. Coraghessan Boyle — [Winner of 5 O. Henry Awards, NEA and Guggenheim Fellowships, PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, novels adapted into film.]
  2. Tom Bradley
  3. Charles Baxter
  4. Alfred Chester
  5. Emily Franklin
  6. Bruce M. Gans
  7. Aaron Gwyn
  8. Diane Glancy — Poet, novelist, playwright. Winner of the American Book Award.
  9. Clifford Garstang
  10. Jennifer Juneau
  11. Rose Moss
  12. Joyce Carol Oates — Multitalented, 5-time Pulitzer finalist, winner of multiple O. Henry and Bram Stoker Awards, National Book Award for Fiction, the Jerusalem Prize for Lifetime Achievement and the Norman Mailer Prize for Lifetime Achievement. The Joyce Carol Oates Papers collection is housed in Syracuse University Libraries Special Collections Research Center while one can find the Joyce Carol Oates Papers, 1960-1995 collection at Penn State University Special Collections Library.
  13. Diane Payne
  14. Felice Picano
  15. Leslie Scalapino
  16. Tom Whalen
  17. Ray Zepeda

Beat (& related) poets & writers

  1. Antler — Poet, activist. Famous for his first work, Factory, published by City Lights. Ginsberg praised him heavily. A recluse. Winner of the Whitman Award & Witter Bynner Prize; Poet Laureate of Milwaukee. I published broadsides featuring him in 1991.
  2. Amiri Baraka – The former LeRoi Jones, the first, or most prominent, “Black Beat” writer; 1989 American Book Award, New Jersey Poet Laureate.
    1. Deceased: 1934 – 2014
  3. Paul Bowles – Author (novelist), composer, translator, poet, ex-pat. Part of Gertrude Stein’s Parisian lit circle, spent most of his life in Tangier; friends with Beats like Burroughs; too many awards to count. The Paul Bowles Papers, 1940-1988 are held in the Columbia University Libraries Archival Collections Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
    1. Deceased: 1910 – 1999
  4. William Burroughs – Hugely influential Beat writer, artist, experimental dadaist, counterculture icon, called one of the most influential people of the 20th century – a true legend. Additionally, often credited as a significant forefather of the burgeoning postmodern lit movement as well as being a primary inspiration for the later cyberpunk sub-genre. He was kind enough to sign a few books for me while living in Kansas.
    1. Deceased: 1914 – 1997
  5. Thomas Rain Crowe – Poet, essayist, publisher. Affiliated with the Beats and was given the sometime-nickname of the “Baby-Beat.) The Thomas Rain Crowe Papers, 1950s-2020 collection is held at Duke University Libraries Archives & Manuscripts. Additionally his collection, the Thomas Rain Crowe Correspondence, 1949-2013, is maintained at Furman University Library Special Collections and Archives.
  6. Diane di Prima — The original & first female Beat writer. Created a small, but influential counterculture magazine with Amiri Baraka. Poet, author & icon. A personal friend I used to enjoy visiting with & whom I’ll miss. The Diane di Prima Papers are housed in the University of North Carolina Rare Book Literary and Historical Papers at the Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library. You’ll find me in Series 1, Folder 248: Correspondence and Related Materials, 1962-2008. There is also a much smaller Diane di Prima Papers collection at the University of Louisville Libraries Archives.
    1. Deceased: 1934 – 2020!!
  7. Lawrence Ferlinghetti — Poet, entrepreneur, publisher, artist, author, activist; opened & ran San Francisco’s City Lights Books while also creating the iconic City Lights Publishers, becoming famous for publishing Ginsberg’s Howl & successfully beating an “obscene work” charge & indictment that impacted creative history then & ever since. Plausibly the most successful, if not the primary person, who promoted, provided access to & helped create the Beat writers’ success. Author of the greatest selling book of poetry in American history – A Coney Island of the Mind. – now over one million copies sold. San Francisco Poet Laureate. Ferlinghetti has material archived at numerous libraries, but the prominent ones include the Lawrence Ferlinghetti Papers, 1919 – 2003 collection at the UC Berkeley Libraries Bancroft Library Special Collections while the Special Collections Library at Columbia University houses his 1959 – 1970 Papers. The Lawrence Ferlinghetti Papers, 1967-1972 collection is held by Southern Methodist University DeGolyer Special Collections Library. The University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library Archival Collections also has a small archive of Papers of Lawrence Ferlinghetti centered around 1966. There are actually many more small collections, but i don’t want to take the time to type them all out. However, some university libraries containing his work include Kent State University, the University of Connecticut and UNC Chapel Hill. [Interestingly, Ferlinghetti, whom I’d gotten to know fairly well through correspondence, exchanging of autographed books & magazines & some delightful time spent in his office chatting about everything, but especially socialist activist poetry. He ended up donating a number of my books and other items of mine, many of which I’d autographed to him, to the Special Collections Library at UC Santa Cruz. The irony is he was always “pressuring” me (in a good-natured, humorous way) to go to UCSC to do my doctoral dissertation … on HIM! Hahahaha! I would like to think he recalled that as he donated my stuff specifically to that school, rather than other UC campus libraries as well as any others anyway. I like that…]
    1. Deceased: 1919 – 2021!!
  8. Allen Ginsberg — Poet, essayist, activist. One of the two most famous & influential Beat writers (with Kerouac). Author of one of the most famous, influential, controversial poems/book (Howl) in US history. It was banned & he was prosecuted with his publisher Ferlinghetti on obscenity charges. He won, thus becoming a champion of free speech & allowing Americans to finally read authors like Henry Miller & James Joyce. Winner of a National Book Award & the Robert Frost Medal. I used to carry his home phone number around in my wallet for years. And Oliver Stone’s. In retrospect, I’m not sure why, but at least it maked an interesting party tidbit for about 30 seconds. An icon not soon forgotten. Ginsberg’s main archive is located at Stanford University in the Allen Ginsberg Papers collection formally housed in the Stanford University Library, Department of Special Collections and University Archives. You’ll find me in Box 334, Folder 13/14– Correspondence, Subseries 1.6 1990-1994.
    1. Deceased: 1926 – 1997
  9. Jack Hirschman — [Poet, social activist. Ardently Marxist/Stalinist. Famous for his “Letter to a Young Poet” from Hemingway. Associated with the Beats. San Francisco Poet Laureate.]
    1. Deceased: 1933 – 2021
  10. Hettie Jones — [Hettie Jones spent the first part of her life known largely for being the ex-wife of the former LeRoi Jones, initially referred to as the original Black Beat poet, who later renamed himself Amiri Baraka while devoting himself to activism, largely with the Black Arts/Power movements, then ultimately dying in 2014 while serving as the New Jersey Poet Laureate. It took Hettie decades to, perhaps, “find her voice,” but when she did, she did with a vengeance. She published her memoir, How I Became Hettie Jones in 1990 (which she was kind enough to autograph for me shortly after its publication while living out of sight in, I think, Wyoming). A few years later, her debut book of poems received some valid acclaim, won some awards and helped her continue as she published several more books of poems. She soon was doing editorial work while teaching creative writing classes at a number of schools, including Penn State, NYU and most recently The New School, where the founder and head of the creative writing program, Robert Polito, is an old acquaintance/friend of mine and used to relate various stories about the program to me, about Hettie’s influence and success and much more. Made me wish I had taken the teaching job NYU once offered me so I could have gone on to hang with them…]
  11. Arthur Winfield and Kit Knight – While not Beat writers, Arthur Winfield Knight was a poet, novelist, publisher and with his wife Kit became famous for continuing to bring Beat writers to future generations as scholars and publishers of Beat histories, biographies and their infamous Beat anthology, Unspeakable Visions of The Individual. Their work as Beat scholars and colleagues is considered so important that the UC Santa Barbara Special Collections Libraries host the Arthur and Kit Knight Beat Collection. [I published some of Art Knight’s working book on Dillinger in serial form via BHP]
    1. Deceased: 1937 – 2012 (AWK)
  12. Eliot Katz – Much like Art Knight, not a Beat writer but a successful poet, scholar & writer of nonfiction, virtually all of it centered on Ginsberg & other Beat writers such as Corso, Baraka, etc. Known as an activist inspired by Ginsberg & typically connected to the Beats by association. Eliot’s papers are archived in The Eliot Katz Papers (1975-2017) collection found at NYU Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive.
  13. Michael McClure
  14. Gerald Nicosia
  15. Leslie Scalapino — Poet, playwright, postmodern fiction writer, essayist, editor. Winner of various awards including the American Book Award. Graduate of Reed College & UC Berkeley, she was loosely affiliated with the Beats & spent some time teaching at Naropa’s Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, founded by Allen Ginsberg & Anne Waldman, with input from Diane di Prima & John Cage. Ultimately she spent 16 years teaching at Bard College. The Leslie Scalapino Papers, 1959-2011 collection is housed at UC San Diego Special Collections Library.
    1. Deceased: 1944 – 2010
  16. Gary Snyder — Poet, essayist, activist. American Book Award & Pulitzer winner. The Gary Snyder Papers collection is held at the institution where he spent years teaching, in the UC Davis Library Dept of Special Collections.
  17. Anne Waldman
  18. AD Winans — Poet, essayist, fiction writer, publisher. Author of over 60 books of poetry & published in over 2,000 magazines. Wikipedia lists Winans as one of the “Beat writers” so while I can agree with that to a certain extent, by those standards a number of others could and should be added to the list. But I won’t quibble. Like Antler, I’ll term him a “Second Generation Beat.” And I published him in RRR.

Nonfiction, Creative Nonfiction, Memoir

  1. Lee Bartlett — One of the few leading scholars of the San Francisco Renaissance movement who has long taught at the University of New Mexico. We were both eager for him to assume the role of my dissertation director, as my intended field was a narrow component of the San Francisco Renaissance. Sadly, life & geographic circumstances forced me to withdraw & wait for a better time to pursue this PhD.
  2. Michael Bugeja – Teaches journalism & creative writing at Iowa State; former UPI big wig; excellent poet; former editor of annual Poet’s Market, Writer’s Digest Publications.
  3. Neeli Cherkovski
  4. Maxine Chernoff
  5. Rob Cohen – Author, publisher, Hollywood producer/executive, developer of dozens of popular television shows for The History Channel, Discovery, CW, WE, Bravo, TLC, Animal Planet, ABC & more. (Rob Cohen published me extensively in the 1990s along with with Bukowski, Ginsberg, Locklin & more in Caffeine Magazine. I met many times with Rob before & during startup to help plan various thoughts & strategies. As I had hundreds of contacts around the country, I helped publicize & get eastern US writers to submit & get published in Caffeine.)
  6. Tracy Crow – One of America’s earliest female Marines, joining the Service circa 1977. Her award-winning memoir, Eyes Right: Confessions from a Woman Marine, is an engrossing story & the success she found as a Marine propelled her to a successful career as a writer, educator, literary agent, advocate & proud veteran.          
  7. Stephen Cooper
  8. Warren G. French – The Warren G. French Papers are housed at the Ohio University Robert E. and Jean R. Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections.
  9. Richard J. Fein
  10. Jessica Handler
  11. Alan Kaufman – The Alan Kaufman Papers archive is located in the University of Delaware Special Collections Library.
  12. Tom Lombardo
  13. Eric Lax
  14. Ron McFarland
  15. Hayley R. Mitchell
  16. Larry McCaffery – Editor, academic, interviewer, scholar, expert on “cyberpunk.” Some of his honors include an NEH Research Award, Pioneer Award, Pushcart Prize, and selection as a Fulbright lecturer in China. His Collected Papers can be found at San Diego State University Special Collections Library.
  17. Errol Miller
  18. Kurt Nimmo
  19. Jack Neely – Knoxville’s unofficial historian, uncovering the fascinating just where one thinks it couldn’t possibly exist
  20. Stanley William Rothstein
  21. Jasmine Sailing
  22. Mary Helen Washington
  23. Jeff Weddle — A talented poet in his own right, as well as a talented writer in many areas, I’m placing Jeff here because the first book of his was a brilliant nonfiction work called Bohemian New Orleans. It made a good impact so that’s how I’ve always identified him to myself.
  24. Robert Weintraub
  25. William Wright
    1. Deceased: 1930 – 2016

Artists

  1. R. Crumb — One of the most famous, popular, successful, notorious and occasionally polarizing cartoonists (and graphic novelists) in history, Robert Crumb has spent much of his life plying his trade in the underground, counterculture, weird and bizarre. He’s famous for many things such as recurring characters, most notably Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural. Many are also familiar (without knowing his drew it, for most people) with his infamous one-page comic titled Keep On Truckin’ that was published in Zap Comix #1 in 1968, with the many long legged hippie men strutting across various landscapes. This became so popular, unauthorized merchandise began to appear everywhere, which I remember — such as posters, t-shirts, belt buckles, truck mud laps, and all of this ended up in court, resulting in decisions, overturned decisions and so on and you can read about that yourselves. He was heavily involved in the psychedelic movement and the experimentation that often accompanied it, which seemed to further stimulate his artistic output, producing many hundreds of pages of comix. He was heavily involved with magazines such as Weirdo, Mad, Nasty Tales (resulting in his British publishers being acquitted in an obscenity trial) and more. He went on to become such a celebrity, helped in part by his collaborations with/for others such as Edward Abbey, Art Spiegelman, the Grateful Dead and infamously Charles Bukowski, illustrating various stories, books and merchandise for Buk. (He created a famous illustration that ended up on a Bukowski t-shirt, which Buk signed for me himself!) His work also started appearing in more traditional places like The New Yorker and various museums. Among many honors he’s received are an Inkpot Award, several European awards, the subject of the bio-documentary Terry Zwigoff’s Crumb, and perhaps most interesting, in 2017, the original cover art for his Fritz the Cat character was sold at auction for over $715,000 — the most ever for any cartoon art at the time.
  2. Henry Denander — A successful visual artist who also writes some mean poetry.
  3. Eric Drooker — Award-winning painter, writer, author, graphic novelist, cover artist for The New Yorker (at least 35 covers as far as I’ve counted), art for bands (RATM, Faith No More), films (Heavy Metal), originals in the Library of Congress and others. Work appears in places as diverse as The New Yorker, The Nation, Newsweek, The Progressive, Wall Street Journal, Screw, etc. Co-authored a book of poems with Allen Ginsberg. Winner of an Inkpoint Award and the 1994 American Book Award. Drooker also conceived of and designed the animation for the 2010 film Howl starring James Franco as Allen Ginsberg. A legend.
  4. H.E. Fassl
    1. Deceased: 1952 – 2008
  5. Wayne Hogan — Similar to Drooker in that they’re both artists, Hogan differs greatly otherwise. While Drooker is a painter with a graphic arts background whose work appears largely in more mainstream homes, Hogan owns the small press with his artwork. While he’s had his share of diverse and mainstream publications (Country Living, The Quarterly, the Christian Science Monitor), he’s best known for doing the covers of DECADES’ worth of iconic small press journals. Among them would be Bogg, Nerve Cowboy, Sow’s Ear, Voices International, London Review, Lynx Eye, and The MacGuffin, while his cartoons have appeared in every issue of Abbey since 1985. He is also a professional photographer, a writer when time permits, a publisher and a book cover artist for many of our favorite poets.
  6. Carol Lay
  7. Harland Ristau
    1. Deceased: 1925 – 2005

Others

  1. Dave Alvin – Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter (in 2000 for Best Folk Album); founder of The Blasters, played in X; published poet; former student of Gerry Locklin

2. Shelby Lee Adams – Award–winning (environmental) photographer, subject of documentary film, Guggenheim winner, author (4 major photo books published)

3. Amina Baraka Multi-talented poet, actress, author, singer, dancer, activist, part of the Black Arts Movement. Co-edited and co-wrote poetry books w/Amiri, opened an art and dance center in Newark, 4 film credits, 2 CDs, etc. Very similar to Richard Kostelanetz in that she excels in so many different areas, it’s not realistically possible to try and pin her down into any one field or genre, but as she IS Amiri Baraka’s widow AND as the work we each had published in the issues of Long Shot in which we appeared was poetry, it’s tempting to put her with the poets or naturally with the Beats, but because she could be added to so many different creative fields, she goes into the OTHER section to join some other very talented people.

4. John Cage – Experimental composer, artist, author. Winner of NEA & Guggenheim Fellowships, elected to American Academy of Arts & Sciences, an honorary doctorate from the California Institute of the Arts, a poetry professorship at Harvard as well as many national prizes in countries around the world.

  • Deceased: 1912 – 1992

5. Exene Cervenka – Singer, artist, poet. Best known as singer for infamous LA punk band, X.

6. Leonard Cohen – Poet, novelist, singer-songwriter, musician] What most people do not know about Leonard Cohen is that long before he not only because famous for his music, but even bothered to LEARN — which was apparently when he was 33 years old — he’d successfully been writing & publishing poet & fiction for years. By the time his first album came out, he’d already had five volumes of poems published, most to good reviews. His first poems ever published were published in a 1954 magazine while his first album, again, was released in 1967. In addition to his well received poetry, he had two novels published before the release of his first album, one of which won a fairly impressive Canadian award. So do not be surprised, friends, to know he has always been & always was a wordsmith & talented enough to succeed in several different formats, a gift most of wish could dream of. (Additionally, just google his name & the word “poems,” is you are curious to see some of his poems. He won at least four major awards for his writing & poetry before he ever became a recording artist.) Formally, some of his bigger awards include 2 Grammy awards, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Leonard Cohen Papers are held at the University of Toronto Fisher Rare Book Library.

  • Deceased: 1934 – 2016

7. Jack Grapes – Jack Grapes is a bit of a legend, at least in Southern California, a place he has championed for decades. He has authored 24 books of poetry, edited numerous anthologies, is publisher & editor of literary beast ONTHEBUS, is also an actor & playwright, a recipient of multiple NEA grants & 9 Artist-in Residence Grants from the California Arts Council, has taught thousands of poets & writers privately, via UCLA’s Extension program & in hundreds of LA-area schools. Additionally, he created & teaches techniques from what he has named METHOD WRITING, a concept quite similar to what one might find in acting classes & one that has been so successful that instructors of this program now teach it in studios from LA to San Francisco, New York & beyond. He’s been called (by me?) “Writing Teacher to the Stars.”

8. Michael Hemmingson – Hemmingson joins this category because it’s absolutely deservedly is impossible to pin any one or two labels on him. Among the talents he displayed through his published fiction and poetry, productions, and screenplays were his additional talents as a researcher, radio celebrity, literary critic, scholar, editor, journalists, music critic, biographer, cultural anthropologist and I’ll stop because the list seems endless. Famous for many things, I personally remember him for his fascinating knack for incorporating elements and persons of pop culture into novels, anthologies, his short fiction and more, and his knack for twisting the postmodern to his liking in writing pieces on things such as his “dream date with Kathy Acker,” an “avant-porn” anthology, apparent obsessions with death — but in grotesque fashion — and yet a very famous work on Gordon Lish’s massive influence on literature, his expertise as a Raymond Carver scholar and one of my favorites, his book titled The Dirty Realism Duo: Charles Bukowski and Raymond Carver on the Aesthetics of the Ugly, one of the more enjoyable pieces I’ve read. Finally, I knew him because his work was published alongside mine in a few issues of the legendary, equally-impossible-to-label mysterious and elite publication, Cyber-Psychos AOD, where I won’t even bother with my frequent joke of the truly famous person being lucky to appear alongside me. In this case, there’s an utterly useless humor attempt fail. [If you don’t know Cyber-Psychos AOD, you really should because it exerted enormous influence over so much of our literary, technological, experimental, surreal, apocalyptic, musical, avant-garde, artistic elements of our culture, and while so many people knew that and desperately wanted the gifted editor, Jasmine Sailing, to publish them, it’s probably than many more people never knew it, yet were likely impacted in one way or another due to its influence. Ten books and ten issues of the magazine on an inconsistent, yet largely annual basis. Some musicians, writers, bands, artists, etc., featured in its pages included Hemmingson, Alien Sex Fiend, Edward Lee, William Burroughs, Type O Negative, Bruce Boston, Charlee Jacob, Godflesh, Larry McCaffery, Andrew Vachss, Brian Hodge, T. Winter-Damon and many more. Oh yeah, and me! :)]

  • Deceased: 1966 – 2014

9. Ian Hunter — Best known as lead singer, as well as lyricist and songwriter, for hugely influential English glam rock band Mott the Hoople. They were such a big band that David Bowie played keyboards with/for them on their North American tour supporting their seminal album All the Young Dudes, the title of which was the title of the hit single by that name that David Bowie had written and given them. While that song remains their best known and best loved, many are surprised to find other famous hits on that album, such as the cover of Lou Reed & the Velvet Underground’s “Sweet Jane,” a song covered by many bands, one of which was Cowboy Junkies. “One of the Boys” also made it inside the US Billboard 100. The title song of the album would shoot to #3 in the UK and #37 in the US while the album hit #21. Mott stayed together long enough to put out nearly 10 records and after they split up, Hunter continued as a solo act, putting out over 20 solo albums with many of them charting around the world. And as with some others in this section, he enjoyed penning some poetry, though that’s not so well known. Have I been published with him? Hell, yeah!

10. Richard Kostelanetz – There are no one or two genres or schools of writing in which one could place the legendary Kostelanetz. He’s possibly one of the most prolifically diverse “artists” on the planet.  [Experimental writer, artist, author, essayist, critic, activist, recording artist, editor, mixed media artist, poet, fiction writer, historian, biographer & more. A Fulbright Scholar, Guggenheim Fellow & recipient of 10+ NEA awards are just a few of the honors he has accrued.] The Richard Kostelanetz Collection, 1967-1997 is housed in the Fales Library & Special Collections of NYU.

11. Charles Manson — Yes. Literally THAT Charles Manson.

  • Deceased: 1934 – 2017

Charles Manson issue of Twisted Savage

12. Viggo Mortensen – Actor, poet, musician, artist. Among acting credits are Witness, Carlito’s Way, the remake of Psycho, Crimson Tide and by far the iconic role of Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

13. Yoko Ono — Artist, singer/songwriter, lyricist, author, activist; winner of many awards such as NME Awards, Golden Lion Awards, Juno Awards & several Grammy Awards (including one for Spoken Word performance). [I assume there’s no need to delve into the very obvious, is there?]

14. Nicole Panter – Actor, writer (The Pee Wee Herman Show), producer, script editor. She is also the author of a couple of books of fiction, a culture & film critic, essayist, photographer, a Mojave desert conservationist, an educator & jeweler. She teaches screenwriting at the California Institute of the Arts (Cal Arts) & has taught at the American Film Institute & The College of Santa Fe. She was also involved in the Los Angeles punk scene & managed the Germs.

15. Michael Rothenberg — Rothenberg is eerily similar to Richard Kostelanetz in that it’s also nearly impossible to confine him to any one specific specialty and he excels at many. Michael is described as a poet, songwriter, artist, editor and activist. His poetry has been published in everything from the small press world to more mainstream literary pubs for decades. He also founded Big Bridge Press and Magazine, publishing many quality writers. Additionally, he’s had so many of his own books published, I don’t even know the number (a LOT). He’s also a prominent editor of works by writers Whalen and Ed Dorn. If that weren’t enough, he ‘s written songs for decades and many have been featured in major Hollywood studio films while others wound up on CDs. He’s also an environmental activist and finds the time to remain active in other causes.

16. Jouni Waarakangas — Artist, editor, publisher, author, activist. His art graces numerous magazines, books and other publications around the world and he is solicited to collaborate on numerous art:lit projects with writers throughout the world. He is the longtime editor of the Finnish literary/art/anarchist magazine, Sivullinen, as well as founder of the publishing house bearing the same name as the magazine. He has been not only one of the most influential literary figures in Finland for decades, but his influence extends throughout and beyond Europe. [He featured much of my writing for many years and was the publisher for my second book, Industrial Madness, put out in Finland in 1991.] Many Fins were introduced to everyone from Bukowski to Locklin and to myself because of Jouni and my work was repeatedly solicited by many magazines there, was often translated into Finnish, and other publishers and editors published or reprinted various books of mine over the years.

Industrial Madness (Sivullinen, Helsinki Finland, 1991)

A Small Final Delight

Most who know me know Charles Bukowski has been largely my main poetic muse since I was a teenager (although Ferlinghetti has often come close). I was fortunate to get to know him just a little, correspond with him, so over to his house in San Pedro when I moved to Long Beach, see his cats. He was kind enough to sign one of those R Crumb t-shirts, which I had framed and I’ve treasured for decades, but some asshole movers seem to have let that vanish or get destroyed. But I still have several books he was also kind enough to sign to and for me, which I also treasure very much. I further feel lucky to have become friends and gotten to know a number of people who knew him back in the day or were still decent friends of his then, like Gerry Locklin. I’ve enjoyed batting around the stories, arguing over the poems and novels, finding myself published alongside Buk in many mags, including some in other countries where I was delighted to see pictures of he and I gracing the covers of Finnish magazines, and so on. I was also happy to find I had material appearing with some former people in his life, made famous in his works, although not by their exact specific names. So I’ve saved four people for last here, all Bukowski-centric. They are FrancEye, the mother of his only child, Linda King, featured prominently in an infamous novel or two, R. Crumb, because I can’t separate them, and the man, Bukowski himself and there’s so much to say there, I could fill 10 books, so I won’t even start to try. (I also want to mention that another one of his old girlfriends from the mid-1970s wrote a book about their times together which I felt lacked some credibility, confirmability, etc., so I wrote a scathing book review of it. Well, don’t know how she stumbled across that, but she did and she contacted me TICKED! She proceeded to do her damn best to defend herself, her character and integrity, the honesty and sincerity of the tales she told and all sorts of other things. I responded professionally, but didn’t become fast friends with her. I DID write an addendum to that review, though, in which I restated some of my doubts and discomfort, but in which I publicly apologized for, in rereading it, coming across pretty savagely and making it seem personal, which had not been my intent. And so on and so on. However, she is not included in this list because she and I have never been published together, to the best of my knowledge. So, for the present as I continue to wade through hundreds and thousands of old magazines and publications while I’m still able, I give you these:

  • FrancEye
    • Deceased: 1922 – 2009
  • Linda King

  • Charles Bukowski — If you know Charles Bukowski’s career and catalog, you might wonder where his work might be archived. Chances are, like some other prolific writers such as Ferlinghetti, perhaps a few places, although there’s typically one primary archive. So let’s just say that when I found what institution was going to house his papers, the word “institution” took on a new meaning for me as it might relate to the Bukowski of old. The official repository of the bulk of his work — 86 boxes plus… — is the beautiful, venerated, elite, non-academic Huntington Library — and good luck gaining access to anything there — I know! If you’re not familiar with the Huntington, while it’s not as large or well known as perhaps the Getty or Guggenheim, it’s one of my favorite places in the world, located in the very upscale San Marino, CA. Let me backtrack to provide its official name. Officially the Huntington is named The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens with the Charles Bukowski Papers archive located in its Manuscripts Department. If that doesn’t impress you, I’ll understand, but I’ll plead with you to take a further good, hard look, because the place IS very impressive and one of the last places I would believe would want to take in rough and tumble Bukowski’s papers as their repository. During my 12+ years in the Los Angeles area I made a point to try to visit the Huntington as often as possible every year while also taking visiting friends and family. There are 16 themed gardens on about 125 acres, making it impossible to see most of them even over several days, but many people — including me — love the popular Chinese and Japanese Gardens, the Rose Garden, Desert Garden and Jungle Garden and one friend loved the Lily Ponds. I cannot in any way picture Hank strolling the grounds, let alone even going there! Meanwhile the art galleries are small compared to the larger elite museums, but they house some very famous works such as Blue Boy and Pinkie, many American and European paintings as well as some fine sculpture including some Remingtons. I don’t know if this is still there, but there was also a lovely English Tea Room to rest for a few, the caveat being you better book your reservation well in advance. Finally, yes the Library and its collections. Don’t be fooled by the smallish museum space displaying some of its collections such as one of the 12 existing original vellum Gutenberg Bibles still in existence! The Library is well known for its quarter million manuscripts, prints, very rare books, etc., of the earliest of American history. I myself felt awed while looking over original letters by Washington, Jefferson, Franklin and others. The Library has much more and frankly puts most research libraries to shame, which is fitting because it IS a world class research library. I recall while I was teaching in SoCal and doing legitimate research, I spent much time with my late mentor, Gerald Locklin, a professor at Cal State Long Beach for over 35 years, a legend with over 150 books of his own to his credit and famous for both being one of Bukowski’s best friends as well as one of Buk’s favorite living writers. Gerry and I worked together a lot. So we tried to get official permission to gain access to the research areas. And were rebuffed. Perhaps we might have been able to apply as Fellows but anything we turned in would have undoubtedly been disposed of in all likelihood. I’ve spent too much time on this, so I’ll wrap up by stating that I’m beyond impressed, but I’m not sure how Buk would feel because this is literally one of the last places on earth I can picture him at, and picture him as viewing as the ideal place for his repository. (However, I could be wrong. We all know of his love for the Santa Anita racetrack, and that’s just a few miles away so perhaps he snuck over while at the races and never wrote about it. Who knows?)
  • Oh yeah, for what it’s worth, I am also in the Huntington Library! Unfortunately the details aren’t quite as exciting. They don’t have any of my own original material, as in MY books. Instead a there’s a very hip & now a bit rare anthology taken from a major lit magazine no longer published that includes & features many quality writers such Ginsberg, Bukowski (thus, most certainly the reason) & ME (almost certainly not the reason it’s there). Additionally, over time I’ve discovered the Library also has some others works in which I was published, so it’s cool to know I’m in an elite Library (in which I can never gain access). Heh. An honor truly. But at last count I have material in over 100 Special Collections libraries and archives around the world, including Yale’s Beinecke, UC Berkeley’s Bancroft, the LOC (obviously), Princeton, Harvard and Brown’s, Cambridge’s Special Collections (where they have my birth date wrongly listed), Oxford’s, the Harry Ransom HRC AND at last count I’ve found work of mine in some 27+ National (and State) Libraries and Museums, including the British Library, National Libraries of Finland, Scotland, Wales, Australia, Ireland and more, as well as the Bibliotheque nationale de France, Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, Biblioteca Nacional De Espana and Det Kongelige Bibliotek, among others. Oh, and in at least 700 other libraries, museums, conservatories, etc. Not too bad, I guess. Who knows? Maybe the Huntington will one day hear of me (no) and will be outbidding other major libraries for my works, right? No. Heh. It’s a nice fantasy. But I’m thrilled Hank is there, as surreal as it may seem. It’s frankly an honor for both Buk AND the Huntington, and thus fitting.
    • But that’s not it, naturally. Like some of the other big time, major authors listed on this webpage, various special collections went crazy trying to outbid each other to even get a scrap of his so they can claim they have a Bukowski section in their archives. (One of the libraries with a Ferlinghetti archive has one document. Literally one document. I have more of his than they do!) Because I’m currently strapped for time, I’m just going to list a couple like I did with Ferlinghetti. You can look them up yourselves if interested, sorry. Most of these collections bear the same name, though some with differing dates, so I won’t even list anything but the library. Some include Ohio University, the University of Arizona, San Jose State University, UC Irvine (ONE manuscript), University of Delaware, Western Michigan University, UC Santa Barbara & well … you get the picture.
      • Deceased: 1920- 1994

An excellent book of poems, 1972’s Mockingbird Wish Me Luck (dedicated to Linda King) autographed for me by Buk himself

A City Lights Bukowski book – The Most Beautiful Woman in Town & Other Stories, stories from 1967-1983. Notice his doodle. 🙂

My very favorite Bukowski book: 1979’s Play the Paino Drunk… It changed my life forever & his inscription only added to that

Another prized possession. The best selling book of poetry in American history, autographed to & for me by Ferlinghetti himself as we sat sipping drinks in his office, talking about social activist literature. Good times & RIP.