Lew Welch] (1926-1971). Courtesy Electronic Poetry Center.
Lewis Barrett Welch, Jr. (August 16, 1926 - May 23, 1971?) was an American poet associated with the Beat generation of poets, artists, and iconoclasts.
Life[]
Youth[]
Welch was born in Phoenix,Arizona, but moved with his mother and sister to California in 1929. He enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps in 1944, but never saw active service. He worked for a period before joining Stockton Junior College, where he developed an interest in the works of Gertrude Stein.
In 1948, Welch moved to Portland, Oregon to attend Reed College. There he roomed with poets Gary Snyder and Philip Whalen. Welch decided to become a writer after reading Gertrude Stein's long story "Melanctha." [1] Welch wrote his thesis on Stein and published poems in student magazines. William Carlos Williams visited the college and met the three poets. He admired Welch's early poems and tried to get his Stein thesis published.
The world of advertising[]
Courtesy Arthur.
After college, Welch moved to New York City, where he worked writing copy in the advertising industry. Welch was said to have come up with the advertising slogan, "Raid Kills Bugs Dead]", but others have questioned this claim.[2][3] In any case, it is doubtful that Welch would want to be remembered for it. During this time, Welch started to display emotional and mental problems and went to Florida to take a course of therapy.[4]
He then went to the University of Chicago, where he studied philosophy and English. In Chicago, he joined the advertising department of Montgomery Ward. He was working there at the time of the famous poetry reading at the Six Gallery in San Francisco that launched what was to become known as the San Francisco Renaissance.
Later life and work[]
Wanting to get back to poetry, Welch applied for a transfer to Montgomery Ward's Oakland, California, headquarters. After the return to California, he started to get involved in the San Francisco literary scene. He soon gave up advertising and earned a living driving a cab while devoting more time to writing.
He became an active participant in Beat culture, living at various times with Snyder and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. In 1960, poet Lenore Kandel met Welch and Snyder, who introduced her to many people in the Beat movement.[5]
Welch published and performed widely during the 1960's. He taught a poetry workshop as part of the University of California Extension program in San Francisco from 1965 to 1970.
In 1968, Welch signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.[6]
Marriage and family[]
He had a common-law relationship with Polish refugee Magda Cregg. He acted as the stepfather of her son Hugh Anthony Cregg, III. Cregg later chose the stage-name Huey Lewis in honor of Welch.
Death[]
On May 23, 1971, he walked out of poet Gary Snyder's house in the rugged Sierra mountains near Nevada City, California, carrying a .22 caliber pistol that he'd taken from Snyder's footlocker. His body was never found:[7] He'd once told S. F. poet Frank Dietrich of the deep crevasses up in the Sierras, and that you could balance on the edge of one, blow your brains out, topple in and never be found. Before (presumably) committing suicide, Lew Welch left a farewell note naming Donald Allen as his literary executor. Allen published much of Welch's work posthumously via Grey Fox Press.
Recognition[]
Jack Kerouac based his character Dave Wain in his novel Big Sur (1962) on Welch.(Citation needed)[8]
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- Wobbly Rock. San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1960.
- On Out. Berkeley, CA: Oyez, 1965.
- The Song Mt. Tamalpais Sings. Berkeley, CA: Sand Dollar, 1970.
- Trip Trap: Haiku on the Road (1973) (ISBN 0912516046) Jack Kerouac, Albert Saijo, and Lew Welch
- Selected Poems (with preface by Gary Snyder). Bolinas, CA: Gray Fox Press, 1976. ISBN 0-912516-20-8
- Ring of Bone: Collected poems, 1950-1971. Bolinas, CA: Gray Fox Press, 1973 ISBN 0-912516-03-8
- revised & expanded, San Francisco: City Lights / Gray Fox Press, 2012.
Novel[]
- I, Leo: An unfinished novel. Bolinas, CA: Gray Fox Press, 1977. ISBN 0-912516-24-0
Non-fiction[]
- On Bread and Poetry: A panel discussion between Gary Snyder, Lew Welch, and Philip Whalen. Bolinas, CA: Gray Fox Press, 1977. ISBN 0-912516-27-5
- How I Read Gertrude Stein (thesis, written in 1950; with introduction by Erik Shaffer). San Francisco: Gray Fox Press, 1996. ISBN 0-912516-23-2
Collected editions[]
- How I Work as a Poet, and other essays/plays/stories. Bolinas, CA: Gray Fox Press, 1973. ISBN 0-912516-06-2
Letters[]
- I Remain: The letters of Lew Welch and the correspondence of his friends. Bolinas, CA: Gray Fox Press, 1980.
- Volume 1: 1949-1960. ISBN 0-912516-08-9
- Volume 2: 1960-1971. ISBN 0-912516-42-9
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[9]
See also[]
"The Basic Con," by Lew Welch
References[]
- Lew Welch: Ring of Bone: Collected Poems 1950-1970 has a preface by the poet and a useful chronology, not to mention 200+ pages of poetry.
- Charters, Ann (ed.). The Portable Beat Reader. Penguin Books. New York. 1992. ISBN 0-670-83885-3 (hc); ISBN 0-14-015102-8 (pbk)
- Aram Saroyan. Genesis Angels -- The saga of Lew Welch & the Beat Generation. William Morrow & Co New York 1979
Notes[]
- ↑ Aram Saroyan, Genesis Angels: The Saga of Lew Welch and the Beat Generation, NEED PUBLISHER & DATE
- ↑ Aram Saroyan, Genesis Angels: The saga of Lew Welch and the Beat Generation, NEED PUBLISHER & DATE
- ↑ "Lew Welch, pitcher", Cosmic Baseball Association
- ↑ Aram Saroyan, Genesis Angels: The Saga of Lew Welch and the Beat Generation, NEED PUBLISHER & DATE
- ↑ Julian Guthrie, "Poet Lenore Kandel Dies at 70", San Francisco Chronicle (October 22, 2009)
- ↑ “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” January 30, 1968 New York Post
- ↑ http://www.seriousseekers.com/Teachers%20and%20Contributors/teachers_priority_1_traditionalandfriends/teachers_contributors_Upton_c.htm
- ↑ Gioia, Dana (2004). "California poetry: from the Gold Rush to the present". Heyday. p. 148. ISBN 1890771724. http://books.google.it/books?id=tx1I5Z3U5DIC&pg=PA148&lpg=PA148&dq=%22who+modeled+his+Big+Sur+character+Dave+Wain+after+the+hard-drinking+poet%22&source=bl&ots=_BEh0-ogH5&sig=rcJKE3PzoeoQX6w0c3kLfpYKeug&hl=it&ei=7NZYTtL_N4iA-wb038i3DA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22who%20modeled%20his%20Big%20Sur%20character%20Dave%20Wain%20after%20the%20hard-drinking%20poet%22&f=false. Retrieved 27 August 2011. "sufficiently impressive to Jack Kerouac, who modeled his Big Sur character Dave Wain after the hard-drinking poet"
- ↑ Search results = au:Lew Welch, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Mar. 1, 2015.
External links[]
- Poems
- "Chicago Poem"
- Lew Welch at The Beat Page (profile & 4 poems)
- Lew Welch 1926-1971 at the Poetry Foundation
- Lew Welch at PoemHunter (5 poems)
- Lew Welch at EPC (Electronic Poetry Center), 12 poems
- Audio / video
- Books
- Works by or about Lew Welch in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- Lew Welch at Amazon.com
- About
- Lew Welch at the Beat Museum
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