http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf0x0nb147 No online items

Lewis Ellingham's be Like God Research Materials

Finding aid prepared by Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla, California, 92093-0175 858-534-2533 [email protected] Copyright 2005

Lewis Ellingham's Poet be Like MSS 0126 1 God Research Materials Descriptive Summary Title: Lewis Ellingham's Poet Be Like God Research Materials Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0126 Contributing Institution: Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla, California, 92093-0175 Languages: English Physical Description: 3.6 Linear feet(8 archives boxes, 4 card file boxes) Date (inclusive): 1983-1987 Abstract: Papers of writer Lewis Ellingham, containing audio recordings and photocopies of materials used in his research on poet (1925-1965) and the Spicer Circle, which flourished from roughly 1956 to 1965. The collection consists largely of interview recordings and transcripts, correspondence, and drafts of Ellingham's book Poet Be Like God: Jack Spicer and the Renaissance (1998). Creator: Ellingham, Lewis Scope and Content of Collection The Lewis Ellingham Papers contain sound recordings and photocopies of materials used by Ellingham in his research on Jack Spicer and the Spicer Circle, which flourished from roughly 1956 to 1965. The collection consists largely of interview recordings and transcripts, and drafts of Ellingham's book Poet Be Like God: Jack Spicer and the San Francisco Renaissance (1998). The papers do not include any of Ellingham's creative writing or personal correspondence. The papers are highlighted by lengthy quotations from contemporary poetry which is, in some cases, available nowhere else. Moreover, since many of the persons interviewed are Ellingham's friends, this collection also serves as a sort of memoir. All papers in the collection are photocopies of the originals which currently are held at the State University of New York at Buffalo library. Arranged in four series: 1) INTERVIEWS; 2) OTHER WRITERS' FILES; 3) SPICER CIRCLE PAPERS, and 4) POET BE LIKE GOD TYPESCRIPT. The organization follows Ellingham's own arrangement. Biography Lewis Ellingham, writer of prose, poetry and fiction, was born on 27 February 1933 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was the son of a Protestant small town newspaperman and a German Catholic mother. He attended Campion, a Jesuit residential high school from 1947 to 1951. Upon graduating, he began studies in Bloomington at Indiana University. The years 1952 through 1965 were most pivotal in influencing Ellingham's writing career -- as is revealed in the following statement he made in 1990: "In 1952, at age 19, I left home, leaving Indiana University in my first year; avoiding the Korean War draft by declaring myself homosexual at the same time, my student deferment automatically ending once I had left college. I lived briefly in New York's Greenwich Village and Chicago's Hyde Park, where my older brother...attended the University of Chicago. In 1954 I came to Berkeley and, shortly afterward, to North Beach in San Francisco, where... [for the most part] I have lived ever since. The central event of these decades in San Francisco was my close association with Jack Spicer's circle of writers and artists, in my case from 1961 through 1965 [the year of Spicer's death]." From 1963-1965, Ellingham served as book editor for the Sierra Club, editing various guides and articles as well as the Exhibit Format series. Other than that job, Ellingham has been formally employed only sparingly. His most prolific writing periods have been during the 1960s, and from 1979 to the present. In 1990, he was an organizer of "OutWrite '90," a gay writers' conference in San Francisco, which attracted over a thousand participants. Ellingham has published poetry, prose poetry and short fiction in the following publications: M (1963); Mythrander (1964); Open Space (1964); Magazine (1965); Cassiopeia and Cassiopeia/Ephemeris (1967-69); Nine Queen Bees (1970); The Jefferson Airplane (booklet, 1971); (1976); No Apologies (1983-85); Mirage (1985-86); Acts (1983-87); Soup (1984); Ironwood (1987); and Line (1986-88). He has also written these unpublished books: The Wounded Laurel (poetry, 1971); Twenty Years of Writing (1982); ' Mechanically We Move in God's Universe' (ten stories from the San Francisco Bay Region, 1983); The Bushes They Were Bells (fantasy fiction, 1985); The Countless Unmurmuring Dead (autobiography, 1986); Koot's Death (novel, 1987); Xavier (novel, 1988); and The Rain Column (novel, 1989). In 1984, he wrote Poet Be Like God: Jack Spicer and the San Francisco Renaissance which was not published until 1998, (the research materials for this book comprise UCSD's Ellingham collection). Jack Spicer (1925-1965) was a San Francisco poet who rejected the traditional centers for poetry -- i.e., academia and the large publishing houses. As a result, he devoted his life to writing poetry by day and forging a community of young,

Lewis Ellingham's Poet be Like MSS 0126 2 God Research Materials experimental by night in the North Beach bars. While working as a research linguist at UC Berkeley for David Reed and briefly as an instructor at San Francisco State (1957), he also founded White Rabbit Press and two magazines, J and Open Space, in which he published much of his own work and that of his friends. In 1957, he claimed to experience dictation by voices other than his own, and he began incorporating these voices in much of his work. Spicer's work is noted for its experimentation with language, form and compositional method, and it often focuses on the dialectic between language and experience and between the self and the outside world. Recently, Spicer's writing has been growing in critical acclaim, even though it has long been revered by many poets. Lewis Ellingham, who met Spicer in 1961, also came to admire and respect Spicer's work. Out of devotion to Spicer, he decided in 1983 to document the inner workings of the circle of writers that had assembled around Spicer so as to explore the implications for how and why it occurred. Ellingham interviewed over thirty witnesses to the scene - including such notables as and - and recorded their comments on cassette tape and in writing. One of the products of this research was the manuscript Poet Be Like God. Ellingham's approach in creating this book was more sociological than literary. As he wrote in a letter to Michael Davidson, "I did not undertake this work to celebrate these people; they only are a part of my theme, which basically is Proustian of a kind of Left Bank I admire." Preferred Citation Lewis Ellingham's Poet Be Like God Research Materials, MSS 126. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego. Acquisition Information Acquired 1986-1987. Restrictions Duplication of materials from this collection, other than note-taking, is prohibited. The original collection is located in the SUNY-Buffalo Poetry Collection and requests for duplication must be directed to SUNY-Buffalo. Publication Rights Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection. Subjects and Indexing Terms Allen, Donald, 1912-2004 -- Correspondence Blaser, Robin -- Correspondence Borregaard, Ebbe -- Correspondence Creeley, Robert, 1926-2005 -- Correspondence Davidson, Michael, 1944- -- Correspondence Duerden, Richard Duncan, Robert, 1919-1988 Ellingham, Lewis -- Archives Levertov, Denise, 1923-1997 -- Correspondence Miles, Josephine, 1911-1985 Spicer, Jack American literature -- 20th century -- History and criticism American literature -- California -- San Francisco -- History and criticism -- 20th century -- Manuscripts San Francisco (Calif.) -- Intellectual life -- 20th century

Lewis Ellingham's Poet be Like MSS 0126 3 God Research Materials INTERVIEWS Transcripts and Related Materials

INTERVIEWS Scope and Content of Series 1) INTERVIEWS. Arranged in two subseries: A) Transcripts and Related Materials, and B) Audiocassettes. A) Transcripts and Related Materials: Alphabetically arranged (by interviewee) typescript transcripts of the interviews related to the Spicer Circle scene, as well as related correspondence (mostly between Ellingham and the interviewees). The written transcriptions were created by Ellingham and are unedited, so some discrepancies between the sound recordings and the written versions exist. Transcripts of Ellingham's interviews with Harry Z. Coren and Nemi Frost (both of which took place in 1987) are missing; however, the recordings of those interviews are filed in the second subseries, "Cassette Recordings." B) Audiocassettes: Original cassette recordings of the interviews, also arranged alphabetically by interviewee. The subseries also includes two recordings of lectures made by Jack Spicer.

Transcripts and Related Materials

Blaser, Robin Box 1, Folder 1 Telephone interview from San Francisco to 1983 Box 1, Folder 2 "Opposition in the Life and Work of Jack Spicer"; fragments of a telephone interview with Blaser; galley proof for New Apologies, issue #1 1983 Box 1, Folder 3 Notes and partial transcript of conversation between Blaser and Ellingham in San Francisco 1983 Box 1, Folder 4 Bernstein, Charles. Letter to Ellingham about interview of Robin Blaser Box 1, Folder 5 Watson, Scott. Letter to Ellingham about interview of Robin Blaser Box 1, Folder 6 Borregaard, Ebbe and 1982 Box 1, Folder 7 Brodecky, Bill 1982 Chugg, Gail Box 1, Folder 8 Also includes pre-recorded stories and incidents from Chugg's "The Company of Men" 1982 Box 1, Folder 9 "The Company of Men: A Recital for Six Actors and an Audience" -- written by Chugg Box 1, Folder 10 Letter from Chugg to Ellingham 1984 Box 1, Folder 11 Connor, Bob 1982 Box 1, Folder 12 Duerden, Richard 1982 Box 1, Folder 13 Dull, Harold 1982 Duncan, Robert Box 1, Folder 14 Includes typescript letter to Duncan from Ellingham 1983 Box 2, Folder 1-2 Includes typescript letters to Duncan from Ellingham 1983 Box 2, Folder 3 Copyright waiver and registration forms for the Duncan interviews 1983 - 1985 Box 2, Folder 4 Correspondence between Duncan and Ellingham about the interviews 1982 - 1985 Box 2, Folder 5 Dunn, Joe 1986 Box 2, Folder 6 Everson, Landis 1983 Box 2, Folder 7 Fabian, Gerald 1982 Box 2, Folder 8 Fagin, Larry 1983 Box 2, Folder 9 Field, Thomas 1982 Box 2, Folder 10 Alexander, Paul 1982 Box 2, Folder 11 Herndon, Fran 1982 Box 2, Herndon, Jim 1982 - 1983 Folder 12-13 Box 2, Folder 14 Kearney, Larry 1982 Box 3, Folder 1 Loewinsohn, Ronald 1982 Box 3, Folder 2 Mackintosh, Graham 1983 Box 3, Folder 3 McNeill, Bill 1982

Lewis Ellingham's Poet be Like MSS 0126 4 God Research Materials INTERVIEWS Transcripts and Related Materials

Box 3, Folder 4 Meltzer, David. Includes letters and a portion of the transcript edited by Meltzer 1983 Box 3, Folder 5 Miles, Josephine 1982 Box 3, Folder 6 Mulholland, Catherine. Includes manuscript and typescript letters from Mulholland to Ellingham 1984 Box 3, Folder 7 Navarro, Armando 1983 Box 3, Folder 8 Parkinson, Thomas 1982 Box 3, Folder 9 Persky, Stan. Includes typescript letters and waiver sent to Persky by Ellingham 1983 Box 3, Folder 10 Primack, Ron. By telephone from San Francisco to New Orleans; includes typescript and manuscript letters between Ellingham and Primack 1982 Box 4, Folder 1 Ryan, John Allen 1982 Box 4, Folder 2 Sawyer, Jess. Recorded remarks sent to Ellingham by Sawyer 1983 Box 4, Folder 3 Spicer, Holt. Recorded remarks sent to Ellingham by Spicer; also includes correspondence between Ellingham and Spicer 1983 Box 4, Folder 4-6 Stanley, George 1982 - 1984 Box 4, Folder 7 Stiles, Knute 1982 Box 4, Folder 8-9 Wixman, Myrsam 1982

Audiocassettes

Box 5, Folder 1-3 Blaser, Robin 1983 Box 5, Folder 4-5 Borregaard, Ebbe and Joanne Kyger. Recto of second cassette contains part two of Harold Dull interview 1982 Box 5, Folder 6-7 Brodecky, A. W. 1982 Box 5, Folder 8-9 Chugg, Gail 1982 Box 5, Folder 10 Chugg, Gail. Includes monologue by Chugg on Jack Spicer 1982 Box 5, Folder 11 Connor, Bob 1982 Box 5, Coren, Harry Z., M.D. 1987 Folder 12-13 Box 5, Folder 14 Duerden, Richard 1982 Box 5, Folder 15 Dull, Harold. Sides 3 and 4 only; side 2 is on recto of Borregaard-Kyger cassette; side 1 is on recto of Myrsam Wixman cassette 1982 Box 5, Duncan, Robert 1983 Folder 16-17 Box 6, Folder 1 Duncan, Robert 1983 Box 6, Folder 2 Dunn, Joe 1986 Box 6, Folder 3 Everson, Landis 1983 Box 6, Folder 4 Fabian, Gerald 1982 Box 6, Folder 5-6 Fagin, Larry 1983 Box 6, Folder 7-8 Field, Thomas. Part 1 of the interview with Parkinson is on the recto side of the second tape 1982 Box 6, Folder 9-10 Frost, Nemi 1987 Box 6, Folder 11 Herndon, Fran 1982 Box 6, Herndon, James 1982 Folder 12-13 Box 6, Kearney, Larry 1982 Folder 14-16 Box 6, Folder 17 Loewinsohn, Ronald 1982 Box 7, Folder 1-2 Mackintosh, Graham 1983 Box 7, Folder 3 McNeill, Bill 1982 Box 7, Folder 4 Meltzer, David 1983 Box 7, Folder 5 Miles, Josephine. Recto side contains part two of Parkinson interview 1982 Box 7, Folder 6 Mulholland, Catherine 1984 Box 7, Folder 7 Navarro, Armando. This tape was hand-edited by Ellingham while making it, and consequently it contains several discontinuities; the Englishman speaking on side 3 is Peter Wigham 1983 Box 7, Folder 8 Navarro, Armando 1983

Lewis Ellingham's Poet be Like MSS 0126 5 God Research Materials INTERVIEWS Audiocassettes

Box 7, Folder 9-10 Persky, Stan 1983 Box 7, Folder 11 Primack, Ron 1982 General note Done on the telephone

Box 7, Ryan, John Allen. A portion of part two was inadvertently recorded over with part Folder 12-13 six by Ellingham 1982 Box 7, Folder 14 Sawyer, Jess. Recorded by Sawyer 1983 Box 7, Folder 15 Spicer, Holt 1983 Box 7, Stanley, George 1982 Folder 16-17 Box 8, Folder 1-2 Stanley, George 1982 Box 8, Folder 3-4 Stiles, Knute 1982 Box 8, Folder 5-6 Wixman, Myrsam. Part one of Harold Dull interview on recto of second tape 1982 Box 8, Folder 7-8 Spicer, Jack. "Poetry and Politics" 1965 Box 8, Folder 9-13 Spicer, Jack. Vancouver lecture OTHER WRITERS' FILES Scope and Content of Series 2) OTHER WRITERS' FILES: Materials relating to Spicer (journal entries, notes, essays, articles and ephemera) collected and created by Russell FitzGerald and Robert Duncan and given to Ellingham to assist him in his research.

Box 9, Folder 1 FitzGerald, Russell. An excerpt from his diary, given to Ellingham by Dora FitzGerald 1957 - 1960 Duncan, Robert Box 9, Folder 2 Spicer's writings: Poems of Jack Spicer, collected and copied by Duncan Box 9, Folder 3 Spicer's writings: Miscellaneous writings by Spicer, collected and copied by Duncan Box 9, Folder 4 Spicer's writings: Miscellaneous materials and correspondence Box 9, Folder 5 Duncan's writings on Spicer: Manuscript notes on Spicer's poetry given to Ellingham 1983 Box 9, Folder 6 Duncan's writing on Spicer: Essay fragments on Jack Spicer -- includes two pages from the Preface to Don Allen's One Night Stand, Preface to a Spicer bibliography and an explanatory note on the material by Ellingham Box 9, Folder 7 "Robert Duncan on Spicer" essay by Duncan; includes Duncan's annotations Box 9, Folder 8 From Spicer to Duncan (manuscript and typescript letters) 1947 - 1965 Box 9, Folder 9 Correspondence from Spicer to others, collected by Duncan Box 9, Folder 10 Duncan's manuscript notes on Spicer's letters Box 9, Folder 11 To Duncan about Spicer's death 1965 Box 9, Folder 12 Article and obituary about Spicer's death 1965 Box 9, Folder 13 Advertisement for Spicer's book, The Heads of the Town Up to the Aethor 1962 Box 9, Folder 14 List of unidentified photographic prints and postcards

Lewis Ellingham's Poet be Like MSS 0126 6 God Research Materials SPICER CIRCLE PAPERS Correspondence to Ellingham About his Book

SPICER CIRCLE PAPERS Scope and Content of Series 3) SPICER CIRCLE PAPERS: Primarily comprised of correspondence written by and to Ellingham about the writing, revising, editing and publishing of his book. Included in this series are copies of some of the last letters sent to Spicer before his death in 1965. Also included are letters from to Ellingham, in which she accuses Spicer of sexism and explicates the reasons behind her accusation. Another interesting aspect of the correspondence is that Ellingham regularly sent interviewees transcripts of the interviews of other witnesses, and often they wrote Ellingham back to comment on or to refute the other person's account. A large portion of the letters deal with Ellingham's concern over securing the publication of his book. Many of the letters are devoted to Ellingham's concern over Clayton Eshleman's (editor of Sulfur) rejection of the book and his comment that Ellingham should hire an editor to revise and condense the work so that it would have a broader, more academic appeal. Also found in this series is a variety of miscellaneous materials relating to the Spicer circle and the White Rabbit Press.

Correspondence to Ellingham About his Book

Box 9, Folder 15 Alexander, James 1982 - 1983 Box 9, Folder 16 Alexander, Paul 1982 - 1985 Box 9, Folder 17 Allen, Don M. 1983 Box 9, Folder 18 Berkson, Bill 1983 Box 9, Folder 19 , (John Martin, editor) 1986 Box 9, Folder 20 Blaser, Robin 1983 - 1984 Box 9, Folder 21 Boone, Bruce 1983 Box 9, Folder 22 Borregaard, Ebbe 1983 Box 9, Folder 23 Bottone, Gary 1984 Box 9, Folder 24 Bowering, George 1983 - 1984 Box 9, Folder 25 Butterick, George 1984 Box 9, Folder 26 Capilano Review 1985 Box 9, Folder 27 Chamberlain, Lori 1983 Box 9, Folder 28 Conjunctions, (Bradford Morrow, editor) 1984 - 1985 Box 9, Folder 29 Credences, (Robert Bertholf, editor) 1983 - 1985 Box 9, Folder 30 Creeley, Robert 1983 - 1984 Box 9, Folder 31 Davidson, Michael 1983 - 1984 Box 9, Folder 32 Diaman, Nikkos A. 1982 - 1984 Box 9, Folder 33 FitzGerald, Dora 1982 - 1984 Box 9, Folder 34 Foye, Raymond 1985 Box 10, Folder 1 Goodwin, Jack F. 1981 - 1985 Box 10, Folder 2 Granger, John 1984 - 1985 Box 10, Folder 3 Green, Mark 1983 Box 10, Folder 4 Haimsohn, George Box 10, Folder 5 Haselwood, Dave 1984 Box 10, Folder 6 Ironwood, (Michael Cuddihy, editor) 1985 Box 10, Folder 7 Johnston, Alistair 1984 Box 10, Folder 8 Lansing, Gerrit Box 10, Folder 9 Levertov, Denise 1984 Box 10, Folder 10 Mulholland, Catherine (Kate) 1983 Box 10, Folder 11 O'Hara, Frank. Letter sent by O'Hara to Jasper Johns; given to Ellingham by Don Allen 1959 Box 10, Folder 12 Parkinson, Thomas 1984 Box 10, Folder 13 Persky, Stan. Includes copy of "Moss" 1961 Box 10, Folder 14 Rumaker, Michael 1983 Box 10, Folder 15 Ryan, John Allen 1982 Box 10, Folder 16 Sagetrieb / Paideuma 1985

Lewis Ellingham's Poet be Like MSS 0126 7 God Research Materials SPICER CIRCLE PAPERS Correspondence to Ellingham About his Book

Box 10, Folder 17 Schelling, Andrew 1984 Box 10, Folder 18 Spicer, Holt V. 1983 - 1986 Box 10, Folder 19 Spicer, Jack. Final letters sent to him before his death 1965 Box 10, Folder 20 Sulfur, (Clayton Eshleman, editor) 1985 Box 10, Folder 21 Wah, Fred 1983 Box 10, Folder 22 Wolfe, Michael 1983 Box 10, Folder 23 ZZYZZYVA, (Howard Junker, editor) 1985 Box 10, Folder 24 Miscellaneous correspondence, A-Z

Miscellaneous

Box 10, Folder 25 White Rabbit Press, Bibliographic History of. Compiled by Alistair Johnston 1957 - 1965 Box 10, Folder 26 Legal release forms (tape waivers) 1983 - 1985 Box 10, Folder 27 List of paintings related to the Spicer scene. Compiled by Ellingham 1956 - 1965 Box 10, Folder 28 Miscellaneous ephemera Box 10, Folder 29 White Rabbit Symposium and Jack Spicer Conference, Schedule of events 1986 - 1986 POET BE LIKE GOD (Typescript) Scope and Content of Series 4) POET BE LIKE GOD TYPESCRIPT: An early version of the first six chapters of Ellingham's book, as well as the complete 1984 version (thirty-six chapters).

Box 10, Folder 30 Chapters 1-6. Early copy of the text Box 11, Folder 1-6 Chapters 1-23. Final version Box 12, Folder 1-2 Chapters 24-36. Final version

Lewis Ellingham's Poet be Like MSS 0126 8 God Research Materials