Carl Rakosi, 1903-2004

In Jacket 1 and Jacket 25

Carl Rakosi, San Francisco, March 1989, photo John Tranter
Carl Rakosi, San Francisco, March 1989, photo John Tranter

Poet Carl Rakosi died on Friday afternoon 25 June 2004 at the age of 100, after a series of strokes, in his home in San Francisco. [Some eight months before,] My wife Lyn and I were passing through California in November 2003, and we stopped by to have a coffee with Carl at his home in Sunset. By a lucky coincidence, it happened to be his 100th birthday. He was, as always, kind, thoughtful, bright and alert, and as sharp as a pin. We felt privileged to know him.
Here are some poems and other bits and pieces in Jacket magazine, starting with a poem from Carl in 1996:

[»»] Poem: “The Citizen"
[»»]
Carl Rakosi in conversation with Tom Devaney, with Olivier Brossard
[»»] Carl Rakosi: audio recordings at U Penn (a note from Al Filreis, University of Pennsylvania)

[»»] Jane Augustine: For Carl Rakosi’s 100th Birthday Celebration
[»»] Robert Creeley: For Carl, Again & Again
[»»] Laurie Duggan: An invitation (poem)
[»»] Michael Heller: For Carl
[»»] Kent Johnson: Prosody and the Outside: Some Notes on Rakosi and Stevens