JUST A REMINDER

On Sunday, February 17th, from 6-9PM, there will be a wrap/dancing/eating/fundraiser party to celebrate entering post-production on the documentary Rachel E. Diken is making about me and my poetry, at The Woodland (upstairs) 60 Woodland Road, Maplewood NJ, only a block from the NJ Transit train station, tickets are whatever you wish to donate, please get them now so the caterers (including Arturo's!) will know how many they'll be feeding & come dance with me:

https://ofcoursewrapparty.eventbrite.com

KATHLEEN FRASER R.I.P.

I was not a close friend of the poet Kathleen Fraser, but we were friendly in the 1970s and as I remember it corresponded a bit, and we had poems appear in some of the same magazines and anthologies. She had many friends and admirers and fans, and her work had an impact on many poets and poetry lovers. Go to this link for some samples.

IZZY YOUNG R.I.P.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s the only music I was into was jazz, playing it myself and going to clubs to hear it. So I rejected the burgeoning "folk" scene and never went to The Folklore Center on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village, run by Izzy Young. But I certainly knew who he was.

Then, in 1966, after four years in the military I ended up in Brooklyn Heights thanks to a literary patron who ran a new magazine, KALEIDOSCOPE, and had me run errands for the mag in return for her paying me and letting me and my wife Lee live in her co-publisher's fancy apartment. On my runs I'd have time to kill and by then, through my wife, I had opened up to folk music so used to stop by the new spot Izzy had found for his folklore center on Sixth Ave across the street from West Third.

I don't know how long he lasted there, but we became friendly and he took an interest in my poetry, suggesting I get in touch with some young poets he'd hosted at his shop and do a reading there. But circumstances led me and my wife to leave New York so I never did. I saw him again in the 1970s before he moved to Sweden (look him up). Many years later I wrote these poems in a series about that earlier time and place, in one of which I mention him.

1

The editor of KALEIDOSCOPE, Rita, a tall

shapely redhead, waited before an elegant

old townhouse on Remson Street with the

publisher, a dark-haired goateed man half

her size who made lots of money consulting

for corporations and the government on the

then still room-size computers. It kept him

out of town often, which is why he let us use

his pad full of priceless antiques, including

a collection of frog art: statuettes, toys, and

exotic carvings from around the world that,

as he showed me, if you turned over had e-

normous penises underneath. I hadn’t shaved

since Spokane so had the start of a beard too.

3

For about ten weeks almost daily I carried manuscripts

and galleys by foot from midtown Manhattan to the

printer on Canal Street and back. The magazine, on

loose narrow pages, came curled in a kaleidoscope

tube with tiny sample items from Village artisans

and stores. I ran into Curtis Powell, just back from

Europe, in the post office near Cooper Union, visited

DeWitt, Mel, and Cliff, while Cal and Cissie, and

Teddy and Lynn, visited us in our plush pad. I got to

know Izzy Young at his new FOLKLORE CENTER

located above OBIES, where I heard him ask a young

kid what Andy Warhol’s appeal was, after a monotone

Warhol radio interview. The kid said He’s cool. Izzy

pointed at me and said No he’s cool, Warhol’s COLD.

SOME QUOTES FOR A DIFFERENT TAKE ON THIS DESIGNATED "BLACK HISTORY" MONTH

"It's always night or we wouldn't need light." —Thelonious Monk (from something I heard back in the day so might be a little off)

"If you be still and never move, you're gonna dig yourself a well-intentioned rut and think you've found a groove." —Jon Hendricks (from his lyrics to Now's The Time)

"Failure is not bad in itself, only resignation is bad. For an African proverb says, "to stumble is not to fall, but to go forward faster."  —Ron Karenga (from Quotable Karenga)

"The light made her beautiful/To behold. It was illusion./But that is a function of light./As some who are lucky can see." —Lorenzo Thomas (from Sea Of Chance)

"I don't get into analyzing what I do too much. I think there is a danger of not allowing for spontaneity. If you're not careful, you can step so far outside that emotionally you can't get back in."  —Tracy Chapman (in an interview)

"A GENIUS IS THE ONE MOST LIKE HIMSELF" —Thelonious Monk (a note he wrote)

DON YORTY ON ANOTHER WAY TO PLAY

Check this out: http://donyorty.com/blog/2019/02/02/michael-lally-reads-another-way-play-saint-marks-church-may-9-2018/

COME DANCE WITH ME

A message from the director of the documentary about me and my poetry, Rachel E. Diken, about the wrap party she's organized from 6-9PM on February 17th at The Woodland (upstairs parlor) only a block from the Maplwood NJ train station. Please get your tickets (you can purchase them for as little or as much as you want, and children are welcome) as soon as possible so she can notify the caterers donating food, how many will be attending. And by the way I have not seen the new "sizzle reel" nor any of the footage nor had any input other than sending long lists of people I suggested she interview (dependent on scheduling, insurance, etc.).

"That's a wrap!

After an incredible year of filming, the Lally Documentary is heading into post-production. This success was made possible by your heartwarming encouragement, generous donations, attendance at book tour events across the country, and sharing the excitement with friends, family, and colleagues. I hope you'll join the Wrap Party to celebrate this awesome milestone with dancing, food, and the premiere screening of the film's new Sizzle Reel.

Ticket sales function as a fundraiser for post-production, but most important is having you there: so choose your own ticket price and get ready to party!
https://ofcoursewrapparty.eventbrite.com

Earlier this month, The Poetry Foundation released an outstanding essay on Michael Lally, written by scholar and poet Burt Kimmelman. Read it here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/…/i-might-die-of-love-for-…

In other celebratory news, the film was awarded its first grant! We're proud to count The Cynipid Fund as one of our supporters.

Thank you for ALL your support of this journey, and hope to see you on Feb. 17th!" —Rachel E. Diken

SEX EDUCATION and GLOW

After returning from my California trip in mid December I binged on a few TV shows while I was recovering, and then again in the past days of arctic temperatures. Out of all the shows I binged on my two favorites so far are SEX EDUCATION and GLOW.

It may not be a coincidence that these two shows were created by women (Laurie Nunn in the case of SEX ED and Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch in the case of GLOW—though after typing them they all sound like they could be made up names). Maybe because both shows deal with sex and gender issues that maybe it takes a female perspective to get right.

SEX EDUCATION is set in a lushly green part of Britain I've never encountered in person or seen in films: tree-smothered rolling hills in a picture perfect small town/suburban/rural sunny landscape populated by a diverse but mostly tolerantly integrated populace so civilized in their treatment of each other, for the most part, it would be impossible to do a USA version without losing everything there is to delight in. And that's a lot.

The big revelation is the star Asa Butterfield playing the adolescent son of sex therapists, one, his dad, living in the USA and the other, his divorced mom he lives with in Britain, played by Gillian Anderson. I didn't recognize her (I didn't follow THE X FILES) and with her Brit accent I assumed she was an English actor and kept meaning to look her up because she is so perfect in this role. But then all the actors in this show are knockouts, especially Ncuti Gatwa playing an emerging trans teen and Kedar Williams-Stirling his surprisingly loving father.

SEX EDUCATION is what they're calling these days a dramady, and has as many emotionally poignant moments as it does laugh out loud ones. Yes there are a lot of the typical tropes of films about high school teens and their cliques and stereotypes and sexual confusion, but with enough original twists and natural, less prurient (then the usual USA versions) takes on sexual discoveries, that I cannot wait for the third season.

GLOW is set in LA in the 1980s, the fictional story of the first women's professional wrestling show, and is also a dramady that hits all the right notes. And though it's about what would seemingly be a world where women are exploited for their physical attributes, it scores more feminist points than any of the other shows I've binged on. And the star, Allison Brie, deserves to have won most of the TV acting awards. She plays every note an actor can from the broadest slapstick comedy to the subtlest romantic despair leading to tragic mistakes etc.

Again, this show is also full of extraordinary acting, including the standout performance of Marc Maron, a comic who knocks the serious moments out of the park and nails the comic ones with seeming knee jerk macho sexist reactions undercut by understated unexpected vulnerability (and Britt Baron playing his daughter is a discovery). Too many great performances to list them all. Watch and you'll see.