Supposed to be dead, Kay Johnson, a.k.a. Kaja (1 Viewer)

[Andreas]

'Another of the indigent artists who lived in the Paris hotel was the painter and poet Kay Johnson, aka Kaja, ... and her work appeared both in The Outsider and Ole.
She was one of the woman artists that Bukowski corresponded with - no doubt for a mix of artistic and personal reasons, though they never met...
Letter from too far (Burning in Water Drowning in Flame, p.84) refers to her ultimately sad story.
She killed herself in Paris around 1971, apparently over an unhappy love affair.'
(Jules Smith, Art Survival and so Forth, p.59/60)

This vague term, 'killed herself around 1971', made me curious, and after rereading Letter from too far, an almost tender Bukowski poem, I engaged the spring of wisdom, and the site emptymirrorbooks.com offers some clarification - and a photograph of Kay Johnson from 1984!

She had been, and this is really sad, arrested and tortured in Greece in 1968 by the Greek military junta. But she came back from hell, and they say she'd been living on the street homeless in Berkeley for twenty years.
After ca 1990 her traces were lost. Maybe she's still alive. Nobody seems to know that.
Or does anybody?

 

[Buknut]

Letter from too far (Burning in Water Drowning in Flame, p.84)

great poem

 

[BUKFAN78]

definitely a great poem - always wondered who it was about...thanks Andreas.

 

[GDPR 4124]

Interesting find. I guess that this must be the same woman as in the, in my opinion, much stronger poem "An Almost Made Up Poem" (Love is a Dog From Hell, p. 47) although there is absolutely nothing wrong with "Letter From Too Far"?

 

[Andreas]

Your guess is very likely, Ghado; Jules Smith mentions that Bukowski referred to her in several poems.
If one reads An almost made up Poem, the book of Jules Smith is not necessary to know that this must be the same woman.
'a friend wrote me of your suicide...'
Funny. Did Bukowski ever come to know she was still alive?
Who knows.

 

[Purple Stickpin]

I bid aggressively on a signed carbon of An almost made up Poem and lost out at the last second. I had been wondering about who it was about; speculating on Anne Sexton and a few others, but none quite fit. No doubt it's Kay Johnson.

 

[bospress.net]

Ed Blair may know if she is still living. He published an amazing book under the PERDIDO PRESS imprint of her poems and a letter to Bukowski. Printed letterpress in 1998. A stunning and super rare book. Really a must have it you are into LouJon Press.

 

[David]

I bid aggressively on a signed carbon of An almost made up Poem and lost out at the last second. I had been wondering about who it was about; speculating on Anne Sexton and a few others, but none quite fit. No doubt it's Kay Johnson.

Yes, indeed...Also references to living in Paris, since she lived in the Beat Hotel for a period. Can't be anyone else.

 

[Harald]

Kay Johnson was from New Orleans, the Webbs moved into her appartment when she departed for Paris, here is a photo from her http://www.emptymirrorbooks.com/beat/kaja.html