The big “Beat” news – So The Joan Anderson Letter auction scheduled by the auction house, Profiles In History, for December 17 has been “cancelled indefinitely“, following threatened litigation by the Kerouac Estate and a counter-claim by the Neal Cassady Estate. Both argue that the letter is their rightful possession. “The Kerouac and Cassady Estates are not working together and have not contacted each other regarding the dispute”, the San Francisco Chronicle pointedly notes..
Here’s the same story via AP in The Denver Post
and via Reuters – “The reserve price for piece, at which serious bidding would begin, was set between $300,000 and $500,000, according to the auction house”. Big money -“We want to be nice to Jeannie (Jean Spinosa, the woman who found the letter), declares Jami Cassady of the Cassady Estate, “We don’t want to cut her out of anything”.
Meanwhile, the Beat Museum continue their campaign on Indiegogo
Two-part celebrations this weekend in Manchester, England, at the Anthony Burgess Foundation – Nothing Is True/Everything is Permitted – celebrating the William Burroughs Centennial.
Among the highlights – (from “Nothing Is True”) – “C.P.Lee performs a live spoken word performance, starting with a banishing ritual written by William Burroughs that segues to an introduction to the life and work of Lord Buckley..”…”Ruaridh Law/TVO presents a performance piece utilizing turntables, laptop and electronic instruments using Burroughs’ own voice and readings of his work”… (and, from “Everything Is Permitted, on the Sunday) – “a series of Burroughs-inspired talks, discussions and presentations”, featuring – Oliver Harris, Michael Horovitz, Andrew Biswell, John Sears, Patricia Allmer, Ken Hollings and Dik Jarmen.
Patrick Clement has an interesting project, 7786 Burroughs, William, “discovered amongst a photo archive of more than 20,000 negatives, (a) previously unseen series of William Burroughs portraits”. For more on that (and assistance with the project) see here
The death last week we reported on of Wyn Chamberlain, here’s two more obituaries – (from) the London Independent and the New York Times.
Chamberlain’s controversial examination of the artist and nudity. Nudity and nakedness. Here’s Allen’s spirited defense of him in a 1964 catalog entry:
“Why am I interested in seeing myself naked? Because for years I thought I was ugly. I still do, but I no longer look at myself through my own eyes, I look out – my eyes look outward at my Desire, and I reach out to touch the bodies I love without fear that I’ll be rejected because I am ugly. Because I don’t feel ugly now, I feel me – more than that, I feel desirous, longing, lost, mad with impatience like fantastic old bearded Whitman to clasp my body to the bodies I adore. So I’m interested in nakedness. I love my old loves’ nakedness. I love anyone’s nakedness that expresses their acceptance of being born in this body, this flesh, on this planet that will die. So Chamberlain has painted every body naked – modern Joves, Ganymedes, Aphrodites, etc, if you want a tradition – modern friends as they really are to themselves…happy,victorious, still alive, photographic, fleshy, truthful to their own birth without clothes.”
Jim Koller‘s death this past Wednesday leaves us breathless
(Young man asked the old “aren’t you afraid of death?” and the old replied, “wouldn’t make much sense at this point would it?”)