NOTE: Follow up this post with a post about ROBERT. J. BROPHY
IMPORTANT — Robert J. Brophy
and review GEORGE HART’S book
A memorial service for Gerald Locklin is finally coming to pass at the end of the year in which he died of covid-19. The delay is due, of course, to pandemic’s lingering encroachments on social life. Two years after its onset, the global dispersion of this virus not only has taken the lives of over 5,000,000 people (of which over 700,000 died in the United States), but has affected every aspect of our daily routines and propensities. All who knew and cared about Gerry Locklin have been frustrated by not being able to gather and honor him in public, so it is with much anticipation that I set aside the evening of December 9th as a chance to redeem this prolonged forestalling of a much deserved tribute.
This is not the first time he has been the subject of public festivity. In his lifetime, Gerry Locklin was also the recipient of a full-length evening of appreciation at the end of his 40 year stint as a professor at CSU Long Beach. The Department of English held an event in the spring of 2008 that featured a line-up of diverse speakers who testified to his impact on their lives. It was a memorable gathering, and I had the honor of being part of the organizing committee, though I wasn’t asked to be part of that presentation.
I did, however, contribute a poem to a volume edited by Paul Kareem Tayyar and published by World Parade Books, SOME FOR THE ROAD: Poems for Gerald Locklin. The other contributors to the book included Dave Alvin, Dave Cherin, Patricia Cherin, Tyler Dilts, Edward Field, Todd Fox, Gerald Haslam, Donna Hilbert, Marilyn Johnson, LeeAnne Langton, Kevin Lee, Lyn Lifshin, Zachary Locklin, Ron Koertge, Bary Spacks, Paul Kareem Tayyar, Fred Voss, Charles Webb, Mark Weber, and Ray Zepeda.
Here is the poem I contributed:
THE DANCER FROM THE DANCE
Watching you complete
another reading with a leap,
I see your poems still dancing
with an absolute refusal
to let anyone else
choreograph their necessity.
Whoever can’t tell your poems
and you apart, Gerry,
needs to sit closer
to the stage you painted
until the supple music glowed,
the dance undiminished
as the dancers, restless, rest.
************
Memorial Details
GERALD LOCKLIN
Celebration of Life
December 9, 2021
5:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Program begins at 6:00 p.m.
EL DORADO PARK GOLF COURSE
Garden Pavilion
2400 N. Studebaker Road
Long Beach, CA 90815
RSVP: triciacherin@gmial.com by November 20th
If not fully vanncianted, kindly attend by Zoom
Zoom link: https://bit.ly/geraldlocklin
About Bill Mohr