dumbfoundry

Carl Rakosi has died.

John Tranter reports:

Tom Devanney writes with this sad news:
Poet Carl Rakosi died on Friday afternoon June 25 at the age of 100, after a series of strokes, in his home in San Francisco. He was with his family and they were reading Mark Twain and listening to music when he died. Jen Hofer writes that Carl's last words, or nearly-last words were these: ‘A hospice worker had come by in the morning to set things up with them and she was asking Carl if he knew what day it was (he didn’t); or what month (he thought it was September); or what year (he didn’t know); and then she asked him who the president is. He hesitated and Barbara (his daughter) was thinking that maybe he didn’t know that either, but after a pause he said “Bush — that bastard!”’
You can read a poem by Carl (with a photo) in the very first issue of Jacket, from 1997:

http://jacketmagazine.com/01/rakosi01.html

Jacket will publish more material, including a conversation between Carl and Tom Devanney, in Jacket 25.

A recording of his 99th birthday celebration at the Kelly Writers House, October 30, 2002, is here.

This entry was posted by eeksypeeksy on Saturday, June 26, 2004 at 1:02 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.