We miss Jim Carroll (1949-2009), fifteen years ago, he passed away.
Here’s the posting we made back then –
Here’s a reading that he gave at Naropa in 1986 (including “The Poet and The Vibrator”) –
Here’s one of Jim reading a considerable while later – “8 Fragments for Kurt Cobain” –
Here’s Jim at Naropa in 1986 – a nine-part series – see here, here, here here, here here, here, here, and here
Here’s Jim at the 1994 St Marks Holy Soul Jelly Roll Celebration (performing with Lenny Kaye) –
A selection of his books:
First off, of course:
not forgetting it’s follow-up:
Poetry:
[ Fear of Dreaming – Selected Poems of Jim Carroll (1998)l
and a selection of albums:
and a note here on Cassie Carter‘s heroic work for, and on, him:
See her devotional website, (compiled while Jim was alive), Catholic Boy.com, an “in-depth exploration of the work, biography, and legacy of New York poet/diarist/lyricist/performer” (no longer updated but containing a rich trove of invaluable resources and information)
See, for example, her great collection of feature articles
and her great collection of interviews,
and, not forgetting her pretty definitive contribution to the encyclopedia Contemporary Literary Criticism containing biography, bibliography, and a generous section of appreciation and reviews.
She was also the “ghost” behind Jim’s posthumous book:
‘ In the summer of 2009″, she writes, “I quit my lucrative freelance gig to serve as assistant to poet Jim Carroll who, very ill, was trying to finalize The Petting Zoo. It was about 90% there when he died — all the writing was done, at least in draft form, but all the pieces were scattered across multiple sets of drafts and manuscript versions. I wrangled his drafts and notes into the book that was published.”
[The Petting Zoo (2010) – his (posthumous) novel]
“Jim Carroll’s Long Way Home” – Alex Williams‘ harrowing (and touching) account of Jim’s last days, published in the New York Times, is also a must-read
“And (Jim) I miss you more than all the others/And I salute you brother”