I have known Max for 20 years at least, first as English lecturer at
Latrobe Univerity, Melbourne in the early 90s, where he walked us through
Chekhov, Yeats and esp Thomas Hardy. Later Max was my poetry tutor in
Honours year, where he made tea and provided biscuits for his students in
his meticulously organised, book-bulging room. We discussed Plath, Heaney
and more Hardy.
Neutral Tones was the first poem Max took us through, line by line and
which opened up the possibilities of poetry to me.
Neutral TonesRelated Poem Content Details
BY THOMAS HARDY
<https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/thomas-hardy>
We stood by a pond that winter day,
And the sun was white, as though chidden of God,
And a few leaves lay on the starving sod;
– They had fallen from an ash, and were gray.
Your eyes on me were as eyes that rove
Over tedious riddles of years ago;
And some words played between us to and fro
On which lost the more by our love.
The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing
Alive enough to have strength to die;
And a grin of bitterness swept thereby
Like an ominous bird a-wing….
Since then, keen lessons that love deceives,
And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me
Your face, and the God curst sun, and a tree,
And a pond edged with grayish leaves.
back to top
<https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/50364#>
Later again Max agreed to supervise my Masters thesis on Cormac McCarthy,
many drafts of which he read with patience and always made valuable
suggestions for improvement and focus. After graduation, Max and I met
only intermittently but he was always a regular and vital email
correspondent, sharing and encouraging the writing of poetry. When he moved
from Doncaster to St Kilda, downsizing required divesting a few books and
he'd earmarked a few for me, he said. When my wife Chris and I turned up in
St Kilda Road to join Max for coffee, he helped me load ten boxes of books
into my car. A real treasurehouse, including first editions of all of Gwen
Harwood's books of poetry.
Max's gentleness, generosity, easy erudition and loyalty has been a
highlight of my life. I will miss him enormously. I can't begin to think of
how stricken Max's wife Marilyn, in Seattle will be.
And we at poetryetc will be the poorer for no more poems of Labrador
walking and Max's ever-encouraging comments and insights.
RIP Max. 1937-2016
Bill
On Friday, 23 September 2016, Kasper Salonen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Oh my God. :( That's absolutely awful. My thoughts go out to his family and
> everyone who knew him well.
>
> KS
>
> ---
> *Kasper Salonen* (M.A./FM)
> Freelance Translation/Journalism
> Poet/Producer, Helsinki Poetry Connection
> http://hkipoetryconnection.blogspot.com/
> https://soundcloud.com/kasper_salonen
> +358505554947
>
> On 23 September 2016 at 14:29, Andrew Burke <[log in to unmask]
> <javascript:;>> wrote:
>
> > Oh, that is devastating news! I met Max a couple of times in Melbourne
> and
> > he was a warm-hearted welcoming man - and a humble poet. Were any members
> > of his family also hurt in the crash? I do hope his wife is okay.
> >
> > Andrew
> >
> > On 23 September 2016 at 21:21, Bill Wootton <[log in to unmask]
> <javascript:;>>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Very, very sad message to all on poetryetc.
> > >
> > > Max Richards has died in a car accident in Seattle on Wednesday. I just
> > > found out.
> > >
> > > No more details at this stage.
> > >
> > > Doug, Patrick, Andrew etc, I'm sure you will be as devastated as I am
> at
> > > the moment.
> > >
> > > Bill
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Andrew
> > http://hispirits.blogspot.com/
> > Books available through Walleah Press
> > http://walleahpress.com.au
> >
>
|