Michael McClure

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Michael McClure (2004)

Michael McClure (born October 20, 1932 in Marysville , Kansas , † May 4, 2020 in Oakland , California ) was an American poet , writer and playwright .

Life

McClure moved to Seattle at a young age and developed an interest in nature that is also often reflected in his poetic works. When he moved to San Francisco in 1955, he experienced a kind of shock and he had to adjust his sense of nature.

McClure was one of five (including Allen Ginsberg with " Howl ") who took part in the 1955 Six Gallery reading . McClure read his work "For the Death of 100 Whales" , which shows his closeness to nature and is committed to the protection of whales. Together with Gary Snyder , Philip Whalen and Lawrence Ferlinghetti , he is counted among the San Francisco Renaissance and the late authors of the Beat Generation .

McClure also developed a musical streak. Together with Bob Neuwirth he is the author of the song Mercedes Benz , which Janis Joplin sang. McClure was closely associated with The Doors . Jim Morrison asked him to meet in 1968 after reading The Beard . A conversation quickly developed out of the dislike in the first few moments. McClure later encouraged Morrison to publish his own poems. He also had a long friendship with the organist of the Doors , Ray Manzarek , and, after 1988, repeated collaboration on spoken word projects, among other things . After his play The Beard , which led to the arrest of the actors in the USA several times, Andy Warhol made a film of the same name in 1966.

According to the DNB, a total of 16 different titles with works by McClure were published in German between 1970 and 2010.

Michael McClure died at home in California in May 2020 at the age of 87 from the sequelae of a stroke.

Works

  • Passage (1956)
  • For Artaud (1959)
  • Hymns to St. Geryon and Other Poems (1959)
  • The New Book / A Book of Torture (1961)
  • Dark Brown (1961)
  • Meat Science Essays (1963)
  • The Blossom; or Billy the Kid (1964)
  • The Beard (1965)
  • Poisoned Wheat (1965)
  • Unto Caesar (1965)
  • Love Lion Book (1966)
  • Freewheeling Frank. Secretary of the Angels (with Frank Reynolds, 1967)
  • The Sermons of Jean Harlow and the Curses of Billy the Kid (1968)
  • Hail Thee Who Play (1968)
  • Muscled Apple Swift (1968)
  • Little Odes and The Raptors (1969)
  • Star (1970)
  • The Mad Cub (1970)
  • The Adept (1971)
  • The Mammals - includes The Feast, The Blossom; or, Billy the Kid, and Pillow (1972)
  • The Book of Joanna (1973)
  • Solstice Blossom (1973)
  • Rare Angel (1974)
  • A Fist-Full (1956-57) (1974)

Appearances film (selection)

  • 1982: Poetry in Motion
  • 1985: Kerouac, the Movie
  • 1986: What Happened to Kerouac?
  • 1997: No More to Say & Nothing to Weep For: An Elegy for Allen Ginsberg 1926-1997
  • 1999: The Source
  • 2000: The Third Mind
  • 2006: Breaking the Rules - Across American Counterculture
  • 2008: One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur
  • 2009: Ferlinghetti: A City Light

Web links

personal data
SURNAME McClure, Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American lyric poet and writer
DATE OF BIRTH October 20, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Marysville (Kansas)
DATE OF DEATH 4th May 2020
Place of death Oakland , California