Obit: Jim Carroll, poet/punkrocker (2009)

Subject: RE: Obit: Jim Carroll, poet/punkrocker
From: Neil D
Date: 15 Sep 09 - 12:44 AM

I was aware that Mudcat has its own Jim Carroll, an interesting and informative member at that, and since I didn't want anybody to think that anything bad had befallen him, I added "poet/punkrocker" to the thread title. I was sure that that would be enough to keep anyone from getting the wrong idea, even at the first impression. I'm sorry if anyone did.
   The Jim Carroll who died yesterday was a brilliant poet at an early age, an enfant terrible, self-destructive, a sort of modern day Rimbaud. A talented New York high school athlete he claims to have been the one who convinced a teenage Lew Alcindor(later Kareem Abdul-Jabar) to develop his trademark hook shot. He sadly never came to terms with his addictions and finally wore his body out at age 60, but not brfore leaving us some of the greatest urban poetry of the late 20th century. He also created some heavy-hitting rock-and-roll as well. "People Who Died" is truly memorable, poignant and incandescent at the same time.
   I wasn't surprised to find out he's become one of the "people who died, who died" , but I was saddened. I'm tempted to compare him to a meteor, too soon passed from our skies, but meteors leave nothing in their wake and Jim left us his genious, his beauty, his soul.
May he at long last, rest in peace.

Subject: RE: Obit: Jim Carroll, poet/punkrocker
From: Tim Leaning
Date: 14 Sep 09 - 11:45 PM

I think there is something poetic about our JC :-)

Subject: RE: Obit: Jim Carroll, poet/punkrocker
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 14 Sep 09 - 10:26 PM

As an admirer of the wok of both, it's indeed sad to see either of them pass. I do wish Liverpool Jim in Ireland a jolly Mark Twain moment though. Possibly he & Swarb should consider forming a duo.

Subject: RE: Obit: Jim Carroll, poet/punkrocker
From: The Sandman
Date: 14 Sep 09 - 05:28 PM

do you know I have never heard of him,the only Jim Carroll I have heard of collected songs from travellers.
poet and punkrocker sounds a bit too esoteric for my taste.

Subject: RE: Obit: Jim Carroll, poet/punkrocker
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 14 Sep 09 - 04:34 PM

Reports of my death have been exaggerated.
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Obit: Jim Carroll, poet/punkrocker
From: longboat (inactive)
Date: 14 Sep 09 - 04:32 PM

A sad loss to American literature and music, I own The Basketball Diaries and Catholic Boy, wonderful stuff.

Never heard of this other Jim Carroll though...

Subject: RE: Obit: Jim Carroll, poet/punkrocker
From: GUEST,Derek Schofield
Date: 14 Sep 09 - 04:28 PM

This is NOT the same Jim Carroll as the regular poster to Mudcat, who lives in Ireland. Thankfully (though not for the poet and punk rocker).
Derek

Subject: RE: Obit: Jim Carroll, poet/punkrocker
From: Rasener
Date: 14 Sep 09 - 04:27 PM

Thanks Desert Dancer

Subject: RE: Obit: Jim Carroll, poet/punkrocker
From: glueman
Date: 14 Sep 09 - 04:15 PM

Nice Obit Here

Subject: RE: Obit: Jim Carroll, poet/punkrocker
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 14 Sep 09 - 03:55 PM

The Villan: I saw this obit in the NY Times yesterday and the name caught my eye, too, but Mudcat's Jim Carroll last posted today, and he doesn't seem like one of whom "punkrocker" would be a fit descriptor (plus, I think suspect he might be over 60).

RIP to the other Jim (if that's what he sought...).

Subject: RE: Obit: Jim Carroll, poet/punkrocker
From: Rasener
Date: 14 Sep 09 - 03:37 PM

Neil are you referring to our own mudcatter Jim Carroll?

Whichever, condolensces to his family and rest in peace Jim.

Subject: Obit: Jim Carroll, poet/punkrocker
From: GUEST,Neil D
Date: 14 Sep 09 - 02:45 PM

NYT: Jim Carroll, poet and punk rocker, dead at 60
Sept. 14, 2009, 7:36 AM EST
NEW YORK (AP) -- Jim Carroll, the poet and punk rocker who wrote "The Basketball Diaries," died Friday. He was 60.

He died from a heart attack at his home in Manhattan, his ex-wife Rosemary Carroll told the New York Times.

In the 1970s, Carroll was a fixture of the burgeoning downtown New York art scene, where he mixed with artists such as Andy Warhol, Patti Smith, Larry Rivers and Robert Mapplethorpe. His life was shaped by drug use, which he wrote about extensively.

Carroll also published several poetry collections, while his 1980 album, "Catholic Boy," has been hailed as a landmark punk record, and he became known for one of its songs, "People Who Died."

But it was "The Basketball Diaries," his autobiographical tale of life as a sports star at Trinity, an elite private high school in Manhattan, that brought him his widest audience. The son of a bar owner, Carroll attended the school on a basketball scholarship.

The book, which began life as a journal, was first published in 1978 and then became even more popular, particularly on college campuses, when it was issued as a mass-market paperback two years later. A 1995 movie version starred Leonardo DiCaprio.

His poetry career started even earlier. Carroll was in his teens when he first received recognition for his poems, especially "Organic Trains" in 1967 and then "4 Ups and 1 Down" in 1970. Among his other works are collections such as "The Book of Nods" (1986), "Fear of Dreaming" (1993) and "Void of course: Poems 1994-1997" (1998).

Carroll left New York in 1973 and moved to California, where he met his future wife Rosemary Klemfuss. They later divorced.

It was Smith who encouraged his music, and he formed the Jim Carroll Band. Among his other albums were the less successful "Dry Dreams" (1982) and "I Write Your Name" (1984).


   Here's a link to his powerful punk hit People Who Died
(Warning: this comes on REALLY loud so turn your volume down before clicking).

No more pain Jim. Peace out.