Published in the Fall 2000 Vol. 2, Issue 2 of the literary journal FreeThought, this article describes my visit with WSB at his home in Lawrence, Kansas on February 18, 1995, by far the highlight of my life as a devotee. It is an extraction from extensive notes that I made in the immediate wake of this once-in-a-lifetime experience, with subsequent associations & references. The “Burroughs retrospective” issue of FreeThought containing this article, along with pieces by James Grauerholz, Charles & Pamela Plymell, Anne Waldman, Jeffrey Weinberg & others, is available for purchase at TMB.
Published Articles by the Curator
Obituary of William S. Burroughs (1914 – 1997)
Published in the Fall, 1997 Issue 9 of the literary journal Dharma Beat, this is an obituary-tribute that I wrote very soon after WSB’s death, a manifestation of my fresh grieving & deep appreciation for the subject. As published, & reproduced here, the piece is truncated, concluding after an incomplete brief biography that reaches through only the early period of his long & eventful life. I think it is most significant in conveying my immediate shock & sadness, which I’m sure spoke for many others, at the passing of this giant of American letters. The issue of Dharma Beat containing this article is available for purchase at TMB, along with other numbers.
Kerouac Meets Burroughs On the Road
I wrote this densely footnoted (61, count ’em, 61!) essay during 1992-3. It focuses on a passage right in the middle of Kerouac’s On the Road text as first published in 1957, where the author (“Sal Paradise”), along with Neal Cassady (“Dean Moriarty”) visits with William S. Burroughs (“Old Bull Lee”) & his family in Algiers, LA just outside New Orleans in early 1949. A close reading of this passage condenses & anticipates most of the significant themes of WSB’s life & work. Fine First Editions of many of the biographical & critical works sited are available in the initial inventory of TMB. To read this essay you must have Adobe Reader and click on this link: Kerouac Meets Burroughs On the Road
Article in Ann Arbor Chronicle
We were initiated into the world of book fairs at the Ann Arbor Antiquarian Book Fair on May 16, & were approached by Domenica Trevor, a journalist for the local online journal annarborchronicle.com who dug our site. She visited our headquarters & interviewed me at length. While perusing our offerings she seized on a very rare gem & purchased it on the spot as a gift for her husband. A photographer from the journal came over at another time & took photos of your devoted Curator, two of which are included in the article which first appeared on June 26. If I may say so myself, Ms. Trevor crafted a wonderful piece, culled from a long recorded interview. Read all about it…. http://annarborchronicle.com/2010/06/26/column-book-fare-7/
Third Mind Books Contributions to the European Beat Studies Network Conferences
Our curators are members of the European Beat Studies Network. EBSN was established in 2010 as an informal organization dedicated to promoting and sharing critical and creative work in the Beat field. Every year the organization holds a conference in different countries with participants from across the world. Arthur S. Nusbaum has contributed the following […]