That explains a lot.Thomas L. Jackrell was a published poet and artist in his own right. I have very little information about the man, but I believe he was viewed in high regard by Bukowski, and was of the Ginsberg circle in the early '60s.
I am a little disappointed in some of the more vitriolic comments. Having read the review I feel Mr. Jackrell was more disappointed by Mr B's performance than disapproving (there was a whole tradition of drunken poets as Mr Jackrell states) - and after all, we all know CB was a good wordsmith who spoke from the heart, so what's the point in reviewing his words? We should make up our own... :cool:
Well, yes, actually I googled his full name. I found stuff you can find, I don't know that it will be of any help. I'll defer to those with direct contact to him.Do you know of Mr Jackrell at all other than this review?
Privately, perhaps he was more respectful. But I've seen some pretty strong opinions written, and spoken by HCB about the beats, poets in general, and Ginsberg in particular.I would say CB held all fellow poets in high regard.
Bukowski had only contempt for most poets. He thought they were a disgusting bunch.I would say CB held all fellow poets in high regard
My wife and I went to Jackrell's estate sale after his death. Most of the people who had come to look/shop were record dealers interested in his big collection of jazz 78's. But we were interested in the artwork we saw--at the time we didn't know he was a poet or had a Beat connection, but he was a prolific artist who had worked in many different styles over a decades-long career. We purchased a number of canvasses and a lot of drawings and watercolors. Some of them were in a very realistic art-school style, and some were highly abstract, pop art, folk art or primitive African-influenced. We also bought a few little bird-house like boxes that were covered in bright plastic buttons. We were very interested in who had made all of these wonderful objects, but were told that Jackrell's relatives were not willing to share any information. Since then we've only gleaned a few facts about him on the internet. We think he might have gone to the Art Student's League, and he appears to have won an award as a teenager from the Newark Museum School.Unfortunately I have received word from the current owner of Tom's old house in Belleville New Jersey that "Unfortunately Mr Jackrell past (sic) away in 1996."