Another lying-in-bed-trying-to-get-back-to-sleep alphabet list led to several, starting with some favorite artists/sculptors:
AVERY, MILTON
BRAINARD, JOE
CORNELL, JOSEPH
DE KOONING, WILLEM
ERNST, MAX
FREILICHER, JANE
GUSTON, PHILLIP
HESSE, EVA
INNESS, GEORGE (Thanks to Jaina for turning me on to him)
J (Jasper Johns is not one of my favorites)
KATZ, ALEX
LEONARDO (da VINCI, it was a toss up between L, D, and V)
MOTHERWELL, ROBERT
NASH, DAVID
OLDENBURG, CLAES
PICABIA, FRANCIS
Q
RODIN, AUGUSTE
SMITH, DAVID
T (Titian, Tinteretto, no favorites, I’m sorry)
UTRILLO, MAURICE (first artist I dug as a kid, bought a reproduction for my mom)
VAN GOGH, VINCENT
W (I just don’t dig Warhol or Watteu et. al.)
X
Y
Z
And then, when I just couldn’t come up with near enough names to complete that one, except for more artists I don’t dig, I figured I’d try an alphabet of some favorite photographers:
ABBOTT, BERENICE
BURCKHARDT, RUDY
CALLAHAN, HARRY
D
EVANS, WALKER
FEE, JAMES
GINSBERG, ALLEN
H
I
J
KIRK, PAUL
LYON, DANNY
MILLER, LEE
NORSTEIN, MARSHALL
ORKIN, RUTH
PARKS, GORDON
Q
RAY, MAN
STEICHEN, EDWARD
T
U
VAN SANT, GUS (Yes, he’s a photographer too; check out his book of large format Polaroid portraits, and not just ‘cause yours truly is in it)
WEEGEE
X
Y
ZUCKERMAN, ROBERT
Which was pushing my luck, so I went to something easier, some favorite prose writers:
ANDERSON, SHERWOOD
BECKETT, SAMUEL
CHANDLER, RAYMOND
DIPRIMA, DIANE (her memoir, Recollections of My Life as a Woman)
ELLISON, RALPH
FORD, FORD MADOX
GELLHORN, MARTHA
HERD, DALE
ISHERWOOD, CHRISTOPHER
JOYCE, JAMES
KUNDERA, MILAN
LEE, ANDREA
MILLER, HENRY
NEMIROVSKY, IRENE
O’BRIEN, GEORGE
P (I ultimately just don’t dig Proust, sorry all you Proustaphiles)
Q
RHYS, JEAN
SAROYAN, WILLIAM
TOOMER, JEAN
U
VOLTAIRE
WILLIAMS, WILLIAM CARLOS (his novels and stories)
X
Y
Z
Okay, so I couldn’t complete that list either so I tried poets:
ASHBERY, JOHN
BERRIGAN, TED
CENDRARS, BLAISE.
DIPALMA, RAY
EQUI, ELAINE
F
GILFILLAN, MERRILL
HIKMET, NAZIM
I
JOHNSON, DENIS (Yeah, he started out as a really fine poet)
KEROUAC, JACK
LALLY, MICHAEL (!)
MCCLURE, MICHAEL
NORTHUP, HARRY E.
O’HARA, FRANK
PETTET, SIMON
Q
RILKE, RAINER MARIA
SCHUYLER, JAMES
TERRILL, MARK
U
VICUNA, CECELIA
WHITMAN, WALT
X
YOUNG, GEOFFREY
ZUKOFSKY, LOUIS
Unable to finish any of the above, I finally tried a list I thought would be easiest to complete—music makers:
ARMSTRONG, LOUIS
BEATLES, THE
COLTRANE, JOHN
DAVIS, MILES
EVANS, BILL
FITZGERALD, ELLA
GERSHWIN, GEORGE
HOLIDAY, BILLIE
IVES, CHARLES
JAMAL, AHMAD
KENTON, STAN
LENNON, JOHN
MONK, THELONIOUS
NELSON, WILLIE
ORBISON, ROY
PRESLEY, ELVIS
QUEEN
RAMONES, THE
SINATRA, FRANK
TEENAGERS, FRANKIE LYMON AND THE
U
VAN MORRISON (I know, that’s cheating, but I couldn’t leave him out)
WINCH, TERENCE
X (No, this time I got it, “X” the L. A. 1980s band)
YOUNG, NEIL
ZZ TOP
Any ideas for filling the gaps?
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10 comments:
Hey Lols, is Ray DiPrima (of whom I've never heard) any relation to Diane DiPrima of Beat and continuing fame?
Doodle
No, it's Ray DiPalma, he's an old friend and one of the original so-called "language poets" (see earlier posts) and to my taste one of the few who are truly unique and compelling rather than derivative and boring. I have DiPrima in the prose category, though her poems were among my favorites among the beats or anyone else, back in the '50s when I started out as a poet she was one of two or three main inspirations, and more recently her memoir RECOLLECTIONS OF MY LIFE AS A WOMAN, the first volume out so far, captures that whole period better than any other memoir I've read about it, and certainly captures my perspective on it. PS: to MB who couldn't comment here for some reason (some folks seem to have systems that won't let them so they e mail me instead) she suggested Sarah Vaughn for the "V" on the music list, I guess in place of Van the man, because he's obviously really an "M."
GENTILESCHI, Artemisia - fills a gap of sorts (under-represented female painters of the Caravaggisti method, and Lally's list (only 4 out of 19 on the list are women!))
Yeah, Lols, I noticed that as I was checking back in. I wonder if I noticed the DiPrima name subliminally and made the resulting error. I have only read a few things by her in collections, but I was impressed with it all. She seemed most grounded in reality, an inclination of which I am always most appreciative.
Doesn't all this alphabetization get into your dreams?
Doodle
definitely gets into my dreams—and where are there 4 out of 19 women?
On your alphabetical artist' list - you fulfilled 19 of 26 letters; only four of those were with women artists. I wasn't counting the other lists....but now I will. The prose and poets list, women are better represented. But the musician's list! Ella and Billie are so lonesome I could cry.
I edited a poetry anthology in the 1970s called NONE OF THE ABOVE, which had about 8 women out of 31 poets, and only one black poet, for which I got flack, even though I had been out there fighting for and championing women and blacks rights and equality etc. but the reality was some of the women I wanted in the book I couldn't get, or use for copyright reasons, etc. and as for the black poets, I was once thought of as one (won a prize that was taken away when they found out I was white!) but all the ones I dug were in many anthologies then and I wanted this anthology to represent those who hadn't been included most places, though there were one or two exceptions to that, anyway, my point is that yes there are few females in the lists above, much of it having to do with trying to choose the current "favorite" of mine for one letter, as opposed to other possible choices, and the rest to taste, and even though I thought of the demographics as I was typing them into the blog, I thought it would be cheating to fake a preference for someone who really wasn't, but that said, there's a lot of women creators I dig that I just didn't think of in the middle of the night making these compulsive lists in my head. As for the numbers, mine don't match yours, among the artists I had 17 males, 2 females, photographers 14 men 3 women, prose writers 15 men and 5 women, poets 18 men and 2 women, and music makers you were right only 2 women, unless you count Exene from X, which makes 3 but if we count the groups as one man or the amount in the group...too much trouble for now. Maybe next time I can't sleep I'll make a list of only females in whatever category I fixate on in the middle of the night, but let's hope it doesn't happen any time soon.
Lally, no need to be defensive. Your list is reflective of the state of affairs in the world, rather than any misogyny on your part. Your credentials are rock solid as a lover of all human beings.
I have to share that as an aging baby boomer, I really have soured on the Beatles, something I thought would never happen. I can't be bothered to read any new book about them or even listen to their music. I think it started with the # 1 album, (of all their # 1 hits). Man was that sappy and completely tedious heard in succession on the CD. Also, when all the bad press came out about Paul being a first class jerk to Heather (no angel indeed), I believed what she said. The dream is over I am afraid.
thx for yr kind words bout Callahan
memorial on the 16th
lets not forget RR Kirk & Y Lateef...
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