Meg Wolitzer, in the New York Times, writing, back in 1995, on Larry Rivers
“The artist Larry Rivers never thought of himself as a member of the Beats, but he was closely associated with practically everybody who did, and he came of age as Beat culture and its offshoots were flourishing. Mr. Rivers knew (Jack) Kerouac, whom he describes as”arresting, physically affecting” but also as “kind of a drunk.” Jackson Pollock was annoying to be with, he says. “He was depressed and aggressive and vulgar.” Mr. Rivers also says that the world defined the Beats as people who “lived in bad surroundings.” Was this description apt? “Well,” he replies, “my mother thought so.”
Larry’s “Beat cred? – Well, his portrayal of Milo, the railroad brakeman in Robert Frank and Al Leslie’s Beat classic, Pull My Daisy (1959), is, frankly, indelible.
Watch the entire film here
(and not forgetting Larry on saxophone, dog on “howl”! )
Larry – the artist – Larry Rivers Public and Private, Lana Jokel‘s documentary (1992)
Larry interviewed back in 1978
and again in 1990
Larry Rivers (1923-2002, born Yitzroch Loiza Grossberg, in the Bronx), one of the great mavericks, one of the great American artist-heroes