Tuesday, June 29, 2021
Gerry Locklin’s ability to conflate his enormous personal access to high culture’s literary preferences (aka “knowledge”) and his Rabelaisian favoritism in matters of contemporary poetry was legendary at California State University, Long Beach. It’s not often that a journalist assigned to do the reportorial equivalent of a bio-pic with one foot in eulogy can do justice to their subject, but today’s L.A. Times has a full-length feature article on Gerry Locklin that meets the literary menu item’s description. Bolstered by quotes from many colleagues and friends, the article provides a sample of the small press context of Locklin’s writing by citing the Wormwood Review, and I certainly hope that young scholars who happen across the article take the hint and hie themselves to a special collections library that has a full set of back issues. The article also supports its case by quoting from the poem by Clint Margrave that I posted in my blog shortly after Gerry’s death this past winter from covid-19. We can only hope that the appearance of this article puts us one step closer to being able to hold a public memorial.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-29/gerald-locklin-profile
Today, I would also like to note the passing of Jon Hassell, a composer whose work deserved a larger audience in this country.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/jun/28/jon-hassell-obituary
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