THE WRITERS OF THE CWE: TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

 

He’s not from Tennessee and doesn’t have any particular connection with the state. It was his pen name. Thomas Lanier Williams III was born in Mississippi but moved here in his childhood when his alcoholic, abusive father worked at the International Shoe Company, once one of our major corporations. His chaotic life took him to many parts of the U.S. and Europe. His family remained here and there is an annual performing arts and academic festival devoted to him. Late in life, he nominally converted to Catholicism at the behest of his brother, Dakin. Although he died in New York City, probably of a drug overdose. he is buried here in Calvary Cemetery, a vast, elaborate Catholic resting ground. 

We will finish with the fourth corner of the intersection tomorrow with my favorite St. Louis writer. Think adding machines.                  

THE WRITERS OF THE CWE: KATE CHOPIN

 

Kate Chopin is not as widely known as the other writers depicted at this Central West End intersection, yet she is a major figure in American literature. She is considered one of the first feminist authors of the Twentieth Century. She was born and grew up in St. Louis but moved to Louisiana with her husband. Much of her fiction is set in the South. After her husband’s death, she returned here for the rest of her life. To learn more about her, see https://americanliterature.com/author/kate-chopin/ .                    

Friday Night At The Fringe

First night of shows at the St. Lou Fringe Festival. I have so much to edit. I'm going to try to post one photo from each show ASAP and then go back for other good ones when  time permits.

Top: Matthew Marcum in a one man show that explores the artistic technique of Jackson Pollock through a collage of personal quotes, extended vocal techniques and pulsating music. Film clips of Pollock painting were shown on the wall behind him. It blew me away.

Center: a one act musical comedy called Liberals vs Zombies vs Conservatives. The stereotypes are easy to spot. In the end, both sides unite in the face of global apocalypse. Make you think of any other situation?

Bottom: Brittanie Gunn performs a very unusual monologue called Hot For TREX. She portrays a writer of what is called dino-erotica, with novels including Hung Like A Dinosaur, The Flirtatious Period and Getting Dino-Sore. (I'll leave the rest to your imagination.) She tracks down people who have written blistering online reviews of her work and tears into them without mercy.  

Five shows to shoot today plus an outdoor family day. Oy.          

Happy Birthday, Bill

Oops, forgot about this, leading to a rare second post in a day.

Today is the one hundredth birthday of one of St. Louis' most famous and infamous sons, William S. Burroughs. His writing has the power to shock even today and most of his life was wild, to put it mildly.  My pupils must have dilated hugely when I read The Western Lands and Cities of the Red Night.

He spent his last 13 years in Lawrence, Kansas, not far from Kansas City and home of the University of Kansas, but asked to be buried in the family plot here. They had money - his grandfather invented the adding machine. Now he rests in beautiful Bellefontaine Cemetery, the location marked by only a small stone.

Burroughs often wrote with ripping, outrageous humor. Here's an example with him reading the notorious Dr. Benway bit  from Naked Lunch (see also here). I like the photo that goes with this on YouTube, showing Frank Zappa standing by the writer, smiling with obvious admiration. WARNING - this recording is not for  minors, the easily offended  or people who are certain they know what good literature is.                            

Tennessee In Missouri

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There are a number of prominent figures in the arts who are from St. Louis or had a significant connection to it. Tennessee Williams was born in Mississippi but his family moved here when he was seven. He went to University City High School, the University of Missouri and Washington University in St Louis. Then it was outta here. This intriguing bust-and-more is on the corner of Euclid and McPherson in the Central West End.

A PS: some readers have asked for information about the artwork itself. You can find it here.

WHAT NEW PLACE I WENT TO SHOOT AT YESTERDAY: there are a couple of big, old, ornate cemeteries in a part of town I never have reason to go, Finally got up there. They have some well known residents.

TOMORROW: underground Tennessee and a new Arch photo on Gateway.