{"id":10050,"date":"2025-06-03T00:38:28","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T07:38:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/?page_id=10050"},"modified":"2025-06-03T00:38:30","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T07:38:30","slug":"jim-carroll-short-biographical-sketch","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/jim-carroll-biographies\/jim-carroll-short-biographical-sketch\/","title":{"rendered":"Jim Carroll: Short Biographical Sketch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

James Dennis Carroll<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Born:<\/strong> 1 August 1950<\/mark> (12:03 AM), Bellevue Hospital, New York City<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parents: <\/strong>Agnes (nee Coyle) and Thomas J. Carroll
Trivia: Carroll’s father was a bartender. His grandfather was also a bartender who worked for Dutch Schultz during Prohibition.<\/em>

Siblings:<\/strong> One older brother, Tom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Education:<\/strong> Catholic grammar schools (c. 1955-1963)
Trinity High School (1964-1968)
Briefly attended Wagner College and Columbia University (c.1968-1969)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marital status:<\/strong> Married Rosemary Klemfuss in Reno, NV, 15 September 1978
They divorced in 1986.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children:<\/strong> One son, Aaron (born c. 1968), and one daughter (age unknown), who was put up for adoption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Career:<\/strong> Poet, diarist, musician, performer, actor 1963-present
Critic, Art News<\/em>, 1969
Teacher at poetry workshops in NYC, 1968-71
Writer for Andy Warhol\/Paul Morrissey films, 1970-71?
Teacher at Naropa Institute, 1986-?
Has appeared in several films and on many albums
Regularly gives poetry readings across the USA and Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Awards:<\/strong> 1970: Random House Young Writers Award for excerpts from The Basketball Diaries<\/em> published in Paris Review<\/em>
1973: Living at the Movies<\/em> nominated for Pulitzer Prize

Works:<\/strong>
Organic Trains<\/em> (poetry, 1967)
The World Anthology<\/em> (contributor, 1969)
4 Ups and 1 Down<\/em> (poetry, 1970)
The Dial-a-Poem Poets<\/em> (contributor to spoken-word album, 1972)
Another World<\/em> (contributor to anthology, 1972)
Living at the Movies<\/em> (poetry, 1973)
Disconnected<\/em> (contributor to spoken-word album, 1974)
The Authors and the Artists<\/em> (contributor to series, 1977)
The Basketball Diaries<\/em> (nonfiction, 1978, 1980, 1987, 1995)
Catholic Boy<\/em> (rock album, 1980)
Dry Dreams<\/em> (rock album, 1982)
Life Is a Killer<\/em> (contributor to spoken-word album, 1982)
Poetry in Motion<\/em> (film, 1983)
You’re a Hook: The 15 Year Anniversary of Dial-a-Poem<\/em> (contributor to spoken-word album, 1983)
I Write Your Name<\/em> (rock album, 1984)
Listen to the City<\/em> (film, 1984)
Better an Old Demon Than a New God<\/em> (contributor to spoken-word album, 1984)
Tuff Turf<\/em> (film, 1985)
The Book of Nods<\/em> (poetry and prose, 1986)
Club Ninja<\/em> (Songwriter, “Perfect water,” 1986), by Blue Oyster Cult
Forced Entries: The Downtown Diaries, 1971-1973<\/em> (nonfiction, 1987)
Other Roads<\/em>, by Boz Scaggs (Songwriter, 1988)
Gang of Souls<\/em> (film, 1989)
Sound Bites from the Counter Culture<\/em> (contributor to spoken-word album, 1990)
Praying Mantis<\/em> (spoken-word album, 1991)
Fear of Dreaming: The Selected Poems of Jim Carroll<\/em> (poetry and prose, 1993)
The Best of the Jim Carroll Band: A World Without Gravity<\/em> (rock album, 1993)
The Basketball Diaries<\/em> (film, 1995)
The Basketball Diaries Original Motion Picture Soundtrack<\/em> (contributor to rock
album, 1995)
The Basketball Diaries<\/em>: Audio Literature (spoken word album, 1995)
“Junkie Man,” on Rancid’s album . . . And Out Come the Wolves<\/em>
(contributor to rock album, 1995)
Curtis’s Charm<\/em> (film based on Carroll’s story, 1995)
Home Alive<\/em> (contributor to benefit album, 1996)
Kerouac: Kicks Joy Darkness<\/em> (contributor to tribute album, 1997)
Void of Course<\/em> (poetry, 1998)
Pools of Mercury<\/em> (rock and spoken-word album, 1998)
Runaway EP<\/em> (music, 2000)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Dennis Carroll Born: 1 August 1950 (12:03 AM), Bellevue Hospital, New York City Parents: Agnes (nee Coyle) and Thomas J. CarrollTrivia: Carroll’s father was a bartender. His grandfather was also a bartender who worked for Dutch Schultz during Prohibition. Siblings: One older brother, Tom. Education: Catholic grammar schools (c. 1955-1963)Trinity High School (1964-1968)Briefly attended … Continue reading Jim Carroll: Short Biographical Sketch<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":4162,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"folder":[],"class_list":["post-10050","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P9VlUH-2C6","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9542,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/background\/friends-influences\/important-people-in-carrolls-life-and-work\/artistic-influences-mentors-supporters\/william-s-burroughs\/","url_meta":{"origin":10050,"position":0},"title":"William S Burroughs","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"May 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"William S. Burroughs (pencil drawing by Cassie Carter) William S. Burroughs (1914-1997) is a founding member of the Beat Generation. Carroll\u2019s first reference to Burroughs, as far as I know, is in\u00a0The Basketball Diaries: \"\u2018Take a hard look down that long corridor,\u2019 as The Man said, wiseguy\" (p. 200), alluding\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/burroughs.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9830,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/background\/friends-influences\/important-people-in-carrolls-life-and-work\/artistic-influences-mentors-supporters\/anne-waldman\/","url_meta":{"origin":10050,"position":1},"title":"Anne Waldman","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"May 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Anne Waldman Anne Waldman (b. 1945) is an American poet. \"From 1966 to 1968, she served as assistant director of the\u00a0Poetry Project\u00a0at\u00a0St. Mark's; and, from 1968 to 1978, she served as the Project's Director\" (from Wikipedia, to be updated later ...). Waldman is one of the most important figures in\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-17.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4165,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/works\/articles-poems-by-jim-carroll\/","url_meta":{"origin":10050,"position":2},"title":"Articles & Poems by Jim Carroll","author":"catholicboy.com","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\"The Man Who Sold the World.\"\u00a0By Jim Carroll.\u00a0New York Times Book Review, 1 Dec. 2002.Carroll reviews Kurt Cobain's\u00a0Journals: \"It's fascinating like a car wreck, and I, for one, wish that only the music survived his death.\" \"I Shot a Deer.\" By Jim Carroll.\u00a0Gentlemen's Quarterly, January 2002: 113-14.GQ\u00a0asked five writers to\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3997,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/jim-carroll-bibliographies\/jim-carroll-a-primary-bibliography-1967-1997\/","url_meta":{"origin":10050,"position":3},"title":"Jim Carroll: A Primary Bibliography, 1967-1997","author":"catholicboy.com","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Cassie Carter My original, annotated bibliography appeared in Bulletin of Bibliography 47.2 (1990). I occasionally update the primary works section (works BY Jim Carroll) via this page, but obviously I'm not very diligent about it. See also: Jim Carroll: A Secondary Bibliography, 1969-1996, which (attempts to) update the section\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4149,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/jim-carroll-bibliographies\/jim-carroll-an-annotated-selective-primary-and-secondary-bibliography-1967-1988\/","url_meta":{"origin":10050,"position":4},"title":"Jim Carroll: An Annotated, Selective, Primary and Secondary Bibliography, 1967-1988","author":"catholicboy.com","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Cassie Carter KuennenBulletin of Bibliography 47.2 (1990): 81-112 There'snothing to writing . . .All you do is sit down at thetypewriter and open a vein.--Red Smith (qtd. in Berkow 208) In 1964, at the age of 13, Jim Carroll was a New York street punk playingbasketball, sniffing glue, and writing\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4046,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/academic-studies-of-jim-carroll\/masters-thesis-1990-basketball-diaries-and-forced-entries\/a-jim-carroll-chronology\/","url_meta":{"origin":10050,"position":5},"title":"A Jim Carroll Chronology","author":"catholicboy.com","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Appendix A Jim Carroll Chronology Jim Carroll's The Basketball Diaries and Forced Entries By Cassie Carter Title Page \u00a0 Table of Contents \u00a0 Abstract \u00a0 Chapter One \u00a0 Chapter Two \u00a0 Chapter Three \u00a0 Chapter Four \u00a0 Appendix \u00a0 Notes \u00a0 Works Cited This chronology was compiled in 1990. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10050"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10051,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10050\/revisions\/10051"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/folder?post=10050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}