About the Jim Carroll Website

The Jim Carroll Website is the result of the efforts of Cassie Carter, who designed it, developed its content, and continues to maintain it.

Design

The visual/graphical elements you see appearing on every page were designed by Cassie Carter. The caricature of Jim Carroll was created by Cassie Carter. The main menu image, created by Cassie Carter, is a mosaic of images from around New York City. At the top is a stained glass window (sorry, I've lost the location details --argh!). Beneath it are two old subway entrance signs, one from the Cloisters in upper Manhattan and the other from Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I've altered the Brooklyn one to hold the CatholicBoy.com name. To the left of the Cloisters subway sign is the Chrysler Building (42nd Street and Lexington). Behind it is a subway token, and dangling from its base is a rosary. Crawling up the Cloisters subway sign is a dragon from a bas relief on a building at 55 Liberty Street. Beneath the dragon is the top of a column from 6 Beekman. Below the column, the fish are a bas relief from 74 Wall Street. The peacock is from 274 Madison Avenue. The griffin is from 43 West 84th Street. Below the griffin is a bit of gingerbread from the Chanin building, a neglected gem of art deco architecture catercornered from the Chrysler Building at 42nd Street and Lexington, opposite Grand Central Station. At the bottom is an example of one of the hundreds of gorgeous mosaics you will find throughout NYC's subway system; I've altered this one to display the initials "JC." I hope these images, and the way I've put them together in the main menu image, give you an idea of NYC's incredible architectural beauty . . . and why the city is so important in Jim Carroll's work.

The dragon, column, fish, peacock, and griffin photographs in the menu mosaic are all by Amelia Wilson. Check out her amazing site:
A Love of Monsters: Gargoyles & Architectural Details in NYC

History
The site was originally launched at Bowling Green State University on January 15, 1996. The site moved to Michigan State University's server in August 1996, then to Forbin.com in August 15, 1997, where it stayed until the server died in October 2002 (RIP). Aaron Burnett then adopted the site until June 2003, and the site moved to commercial hosting, The site is currently hosted at Westhost, which I strongly recommend (great support, reliability, and features for a reasonable price). The domain name CatholicBoy.com, selected by Jim Carroll, was registered and implemented in April 1999.

I hope you will check out my rationale for developing this site.

The most recent overall redesign of the Jim Carroll Website was in September 1999. I revise sections of the site continuously . . . sort of in rotation. (Every time I go in to revise one page I end up spending two days "fixing stuff" all over the site. Like right now.) Revision dates of individual pages on this website vary.

Is CatholicBoy.com the "Official Jim Carroll Website"?
No. An "official" website would be subject to direct editorial control by the site's subject. Jim Carroll knows what's here and appreciates it, and he sometimes contributes material, but he does not exercise editorial control over CatholicBoy.com.

Who Runs the Show?
Cassie Carter. I am a Jim Carroll scholar and archivist, and CatholicBoy.com is my website. Likewise, Jim sees CatholicBoy.com as my website, and he respects it.

Occasionally a conflict arises between my scholarly/archivist goals and Jim's viewpoints. I weigh the pros and cons. If Jim doesn't wan't "X," but I think "X" is important from a scholarly or archival point of view, I veto him (sorry). If Jim still has a big problem with "X," then we talk about it. Keep in mind that Jim doesn't argue cases at random. If "X" is something important to him, he will win . . . but his win does not guarantee a change in the website. (Jim and I still, occasionally get into debates about Put Your Tongue to the Rail and the off-off Broadway stage version of The Basketball Diaries, and there are several photographs he'd prefer I not include on the site . . .)

My goal, as a documentarian, archivist, and scholar, is to make the information available to others. I hope others will get a glimpse of the brilliant artist I know as "Carroll" and the kind-hearted person I know as "Jim." I want you to have a sense of the whole person--the author, the character "in" the work, and the person who creates the work.

Linking & Permissions
If you wish to use any material contained on this website, please feel free to link to it and email me to let me know so that I may add a reciprocal link, if appropriate. Please don't steal stuff. No part of this site may be reproduced in any form except with written permission from me, and in many cases from other copyright holders.

Cassie Carter, PhD