Gabe,
Mmm. What I'm remembering (and now looking at) is the selection called
"Some Posthumous Poems" (20+) by St. Geraud in the Fall 1966 _Epoch_
(16:1). The first item in a back section titled "Notes, Reviews, and
Speculations" is a blackline'd announcement:
David Carellis, whose address is 2324 North Clark Street in Chicago,
announces the death by suicide on March 2, 1966, shortly before his
twenty-sixth birthday, of St. Giraud (sic) (the pen-name of William
Knott), whose address is 2324 North Clark Street in Chicago. St. Giraud's
suicide note to Carellis stated that he had killed himself because "I am a
virgin . . . No girl has ever returned my love . . . I am already dead, of
starvation." Kenneth Rexroth has said, in response to some of St. Giraud's
poems that appeared in John Logan's _Choice_, "Knott's poems are
remarkable for their chasteness." David Carellis thus becomes the survivor
and literary executor of St. Giraud and has edited a posthmous volume of
the projected poet's work for publication.
Now that I look at this again, it seems Knott is messing with several
heads on several levels.
John "Projected Poet" Latta
Note:
I should call attention to Baxter Hathaway's list of "the top fifty poets
in the country" in the issue preceding. It's much more that fifty, but
includes A. R. Ammons, Howard Ant, John Ashberry (sic), Marvin Bell, Ted
Berrigan, Paul Blackburn, Charles Bukowski, John Ciardi, J. V. Cunningham,
Diane di Prima . . . Ronald Johnson . . . unbelievably catholic.
On Thu, 20 Apr 2000 [log in to unmask] wrote:
>
> I thought Knott's suicide was announced in Bly's _The Sixties_. You sure
> it was _Epoch_, John? You would definitely know better than I but I
> thought it was surely _The Sixties_. Viva Knott either way.
>
> Gabe
>
> On Thu, 20 Apr 2000, John Latta wrote:
>
> > That homophonic translation of Robert Desnos' (1900-1945) _Corps et biens_
> > always made me chilly, too. I think the story is that Knott--or a
> > confederate--announced the suicide (in _Epoch_ magazine) with the aim of
> > avoiding the draft, as the Viet Nam war gear'd up.
> >
> > John Latta
> >
> > On Thu, 20 Apr 2000, Rachel Loden wrote:
> >
> > > I always liked Bill Knott's bio for THE NAOMI POEMS: CORPSE AND BEANS,
> > > back when he was calling himself "Saint Geraud." Saint Geraud is the
> > > name on the front of the book and the spine, but on the back it says
> > > "Bill Knott (1940-1966) is a virgin and a suicide."
> > >
> > > Rachel Loden
> > > http://www.thepomegranate.com/loden/hotel.html
> > > email: [log in to unmask]
> > >
> >
> >
>
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