{"id":9436,"date":"2025-03-16T18:47:11","date_gmt":"2025-03-17T01:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/background\/friends-influences\/important-people-in-carrolls-life-and-work\/artistic-influences-mentors-supporters\/other-important-people\/"},"modified":"2025-05-30T15:59:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T22:59:02","slug":"other-important-people","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/background\/friends-influences\/important-people-in-carrolls-life-and-work\/artistic-influences-mentors-supporters\/other-important-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Other Important People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

JOHN ASHBERY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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John Ashbery\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Ashbery is another important literary influence on Carroll, but I don’t know any details. The title of the prose piece “‘The Academy of the Future Is Opening Its Doors . . .,'” in The Book of Nods<\/a><\/em> is a line from Ashbery. Ashbery appears in Disconnected<\/em> with Carroll and others. Read more about John Ashbery on Wikipedia ><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>BILL BERKSON<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Berkson pops up in Forced Entries<\/a><\/em> in “Invitation to the Dance” (15-20) and “New Accomodations” (37-38). Carroll and Berkson collaborated on “Back Up Front (for Ted Berrigan),” an uncollected poem now housed in the Library of Ted Berrigan. Read more about Bill Berkson on Wikipedia ><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>TOM CLARK <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Clark wrote the introduction, titled “Rimbaud Rambles On: By Way of a Preface to The Diaries,” for the first edition of The Basketball Diaries<\/a><\/em>. Read more about Tom Clark on Wikipedia ><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>KURT COBAIN <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Carroll wrote “8 Fragments for Kurt Cobain”<\/a> shortly after Cobain killed himself (4 April 1994). Read more about Kurt Cobain on Wikipedia ><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>SALVADOR DALI <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Salvadore Dali<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In “Hello, Dali,” a humorous piece in Forced Entries<\/a><\/em> (158-61), Carroll tells the story of how Dali stole his cab. Read more about Dali on Wikipedia ><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>EDWIN DENBY <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Invitation to the Dance,” in Forced Entries<\/a><\/em> (15-20), is a brilliant portrait of Denby. Read more about Edwin Denby on Wikipedia ><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>BOB DYLAN <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Carroll admired Dylan, but he was much bigger on Phil Ochs and The Who. Carroll refers to Dylan on occasion in The Basketball Diaries<\/a><\/em> and describes meeting him in “Dylan and the KGB” in Forced Entries<\/a><\/em> (pp.65-70). Also, Bob’s son, Jesse, directed videos for three of Carroll’s spoken-word pieces. These videos, “The Last Bear of Sarajevo,” “Untitled Poem,” and “For Elizabeth,” were shown between sets on the 1993 Lollapalooza tour. Read more about Bob Dylan on Wikipedia ><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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By Elsa Dorfman – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Just a brief quip to add here. On his album Praying Mantis<\/a><\/em>, Carroll, while introducing “Tiny Tortures” from Forced Entries<\/a><\/em>, mentions Ferlinghetti. He hints at the temptations inherent (to a junkie) in his duty of holding the contribution bowl at poetry readings at St. Mark\u2019s, and says, after hearing Ferlinghetti, “I was straight for weeks.” Read more about Lawrence Ferlinghetti on Wikipedia ><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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JOHN GIORNO <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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John Giorno<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

John Giorno ran “Dial-a-Poem,” which started as a project in which writers recorded their works on tape so that people could call up and listen to them on the phone. The original project is now housed at the Museum of Modern<\/a> Art in Manhattan, New York. It has since evolved into a series of albums (see Spoken Word Collaborations<\/a>) on the Giorno Poetry Systems Label (The Dial-a- Poem Poets, Disconnected, Life Is a Killer, You\u2019re a Hook, Better an Old Demon Than a New God<\/em>, etc.) as well as the excellent films<\/a> Poetry in Motion<\/em> and Gang of Souls<\/em>. Carroll did his first Dial-a-Poem recording around 1969. Giorno appears in the films as well as on all of the “Dial-a-Poem” albums, along with Ginsberg, Burroughs, and most of the surviving Beats. Learn more about John Giorno on Wikipedia ><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>RICHARD HELL <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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\nRichard Hell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Richard Hell is a punk musician and poet perhaps best known for the influential Richard Hell & the Voidoids<\/a>. Their 1977 album\u00a0Blank Generation<\/a><\/em>\u00a0influenced many other punk bands. Its\u00a0title track<\/a>\u00a0was named “One of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock.”\u00a0Hell is immensely important in punk rock and the history of rock music. In the late 1990s Hell and Jim Carroll often appeared together on the spoken-word circuit. Hell wrote a review<\/a> (which I loved and nobody else in charge did) of the posthumously published The Petting Zoo<\/em>. I am still learning about the connection. Meanwhile, for information about Hell, visit his website at\u00a0www.richardhell.com<\/a> and of course you can learn more about Richard Hell on Wikipedia ><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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RAY MANZAREK <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Ray_Manzarek (1968) – by Jan Persson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Ray Manzarek is best known as the keyboardist for The Doors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the late 1980s he started touring as accompanist for poet Michael McClure<\/a> and toured along with McClure with Jim Carroll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I saw Carroll read in San Diego on a double bill in 1988 with Michael McClure<\/a> and Ray Manzarek opening for him. Carroll was delayed by traffic, so McClure and Manzarek just kept going. That was an amazing experience! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 2000s, Manzarek and Carroll toured together. What I remember about this period Is that Carroll — who had a lot of experience in rock & roll and knew about the hierarchy of the main act vs the opening act — would choose to be the opening act because he wanted to get home or do something else. So one thing I find interesting about journalism of that period is how the journalists classify the main act vs the supporting act. For example this article<\/a>, written after Manzarek’s death, which says Carroll was opening for Manzarek. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only thing I remember of when Jim Carroll and Ray Manzarek were appearing together at The Bottom Line in Manhattan was . . . I went backstage to see Jim Carroll and LITERALLY climbed over Ray Manzarek to get to Jim Carroll. And I can tell you that Jim Carroll ribbed me endlessly about the Ray Manzarek thing until he died!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carroll was supposed to do an album with Manzarek a few years ago, but the project fell through. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about Ray Manzarek on Wikipedia ><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>MICHAEL MCCLURE <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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McClure is a beat poet, more or less in the same club as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. In the late 1980s McClure was on the spoken-word tour circuit along with Jim Carroll. I saw Carroll read in San Diego on a double bill in 1988 with Michael McClure and Ray Manzarek<\/a> opening for him. Carroll was delayed by traffic, so McClure and Manzarek just kept going. That was an amazing experience! Carroll admired McClure. I had a (rare) brief poet assessment conversation with Carroll and expressed my opinion that I couldn’t stand McClure. Carroll said he thought McClure was great. End of poet assessment conversation, because everyone’s allowed to like the poets they like.<\/em> McClure appears in Poetry in Motion<\/em> and on Disconnected<\/em>, along with Carroll and others (see Spoken Word Collaborations<\/a>). Read more about Michael McClure on Wikipedia<\/a> ><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Forrest “Frosty” Myers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Forrest<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Forrest “Frosty” Myers (b. 1941)<\/strong> is an American sculptor whose works currently are exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, and Whitney Museum of Art, among others. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was a denizen of Max’s Kansas City, and his light sculpture Laser’s End<\/em> emitted “a ruby-red, pencil-thin laser beam, quivering with particles of soot and smoke, emanat[ing] from a second-floor loft window at Park Avenue South and 19th Street. … [I]t was aimed two blocks south through a hole cut in the awning of Max’s Kansas City, where it was cut by a small mirror and bounced through the plate-glass front window into the restaurant, penetrating a later of cigarette smoke that hovered avoce the long front bar, three deep with painters and artists, passionate and stoned, drunk and argumentative, past John Chamberlain\u2019s crushed automobile, beyond the phone booth and the small toilets, past the swinging doors to the kitchen, and landed on the rear wall of the back room, where the beam shimmered like a stoned-out star of Bethlehem” (Steven Gaines<\/a>, “Where Poets, Painters, Rockers, Junkies, and the Occasional Movie Star Sometimes Ate the $8.50 Steak: Max’s Kansas City Can Never Be Repeated.” Grub Street<\/em> 10 April 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, Myers is the artist who created the laser beam Carroll describes in Forced Entries<\/em><\/a>, in “Robert Smithson Does Some Impressive Talking to an Idiot Who Just Trailed a Beam of Light” (41-43). I’m still looking for a photo of the sculpture. Let me know if you have one!<\/a> This painting is the closest I have found:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Max's<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Read more about Myers on Wikipedia<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>PHIL OCHS <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Phil Ochs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Ochs, a folk singer, is another key influence on Carroll. The Basketball Diaries<\/em> is dedicated “In Memory of Phil Ochs”; other tributes to Ochs include “The Bells” in Forced Entries<\/em> (p. 72) and “Heroes for Phil Ochs<\/em>” in The Book of Nods<\/em> (see Fear of Dreaming<\/em> 210). Read more about Phil Ochs on Wikipedia ><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>PETER ORLOVSKY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orlovsky appears in “Dylan and the KGB” (65-70) and “The Loft Party” (101-110) in Forced Entries<\/a><\/em>. He is featured on Disconnected<\/em>, along with Carroll and others (more here<\/a>). Read more about Peter Orlovsky on Wikipedia ><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>ROBERT SMITHSON <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Carroll describes a fascinating run-in with Smithson in “Robert Smithson Does Some Impressive Talking to an Idiot Who Just Trailed a Beam of Light” in Forced Entries<\/a><\/em> (pp.41-43). Carroll also has a poem, “For Robert Smithson,” in The Book of Nods<\/a><\/em> (see Fear of Dreaming<\/em> 234). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about Robert Smithson on Wikipedia ><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>TERRY SOUTHERN <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carroll says of Southern in “The Loft Party” in Forced Entries<\/em>: “He’s a funny guy. I like him, in spite of the fact that after working two full years of high school at getting my dick inside the family crest of this lovely, wonderfully precocious teenage actress I was going with . . . after spending inordinate (and I would not make money an issue if it were not inordinate) sums of money on her . . . money which had been previously allocated for mind alteration . . . After all this, who else but Terry Southern winds up performing the hymen maneuver on her when she goes up for the lead in the film version of his sicko-smut (I say this in a non-perjorative sense) epic, Candy<\/em>. . . . We laugh about it now. We laugh about it tonight, in fact. He seems to laugh harder, however. And last” (103-4). Read more about Terry Southern on Wikipedia ><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JOHN ASHBERY Ashbery is another important literary influence on Carroll, but I don’t know any details. The title of the prose piece “‘The Academy of the Future Is Opening Its Doors . . .,’” in The Book of Nods is a line from Ashbery. Ashbery appears in Disconnected with Carroll and others. Read more about John Ashbery on Wikipedia > … Continue reading Other Important People<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":9419,"menu_order":5,"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":[13],"class_list":["post-9436","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P9VlUH-2sc","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9348,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/background\/friends-influences\/important-people-in-carrolls-life-and-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":9436,"position":0},"title":"Important people in Carroll\u2019s life and work","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"March 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Index: Artistic Influences, Mentors, & Supporters John Ashbery\u00a0|\u00a0Bill Berkson\u00a0|\u00a0Brigid Berlin\u00a0|\u00a0Ted Berrigan\u00a0|\u00a0William S. Burroughs\u00a0| Joseph Campbell | \u00a0Tom Clark\u00a0|\u00a0Kurt Cobain\u00a0|\u00a0Salvador Dali\u00a0|\u00a0Edwin Denby\u00a0|\u00a0Bob Dylan\u00a0|\u00a0Lawrence Ferlenghetti\u00a0|\u00a0Allen Ginsberg\u00a0|\u00a0John Giorno\u00a0|\u00a0Richard Hell\u00a0|\u00a0Lenny Kaye\u00a0|\u00a0Jack Kerouac\u00a0|\u00a0Gerard Malanga\u00a0|\u00a0Ray Manzarek\u00a0|\u00a0Robert Mapplethorpe\u00a0|\u00a0Michael McClure\u00a0|\u00a0Henry Miller\u00a0|\u00a0Paul Morrissey\u00a0|\u00a0Forrest \"Frosty\" Myers\u00a0|\u00a0Phil Ochs\u00a0|\u00a0Frank O'Hara\u00a0|\u00a0Peter Orlovsky\u00a0|\u00a0Lou Reed\u00a0|\u00a0Arthur Rimbaud\u00a0|\u00a0Larry Rivers\u00a0|\u00a0Patti Smith\u00a0|\u00a0Robert Smithson\u00a0|\u00a0Terry Southern\u00a0|\u00a0Velvet Undergound\u00a0|\u00a0Anne Waldman\u00a0|\u00a0Andrea Warhol\u00a0|\u00a0Andy Warhol\u00a0 Index:\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10175,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/performance-reviews\/jim-carroll-at-university-of-notre-dame-1999-review-by-j-a-carpenter\/","url_meta":{"origin":9436,"position":1},"title":"University of Notre Dame (1999)","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"June 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Jim Carroll at University of Notre DameNotre Dame, IN (2\/16\/99)The Sophomore Literary FestivalReview by\u00a0J. A. Carpenter This is a tale about how I met Jim Carroll. It was, indeed, at Nortre Dame University which was the worst place in the world. My friend and I got lost, there were like\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4068,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/works\/jim-carroll-music-and-spoken-word\/jim-carroll-spoken-word-collaborations\/","url_meta":{"origin":9436,"position":2},"title":"Jim Carroll: Spoken-Word Collaborations & Soundtracks","author":"catholicboy.com","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"See also: Albums: Spoken-Word\/Lecture Doctor Sax and the Great World SnakeReleased: 2003By: Jack KerouacPerformed by: various artistsLabel: MintGenre: Spoken word (dramatic reading) This two-CD set offers a dramatic reading of Kerouac's previouslyunpublished screenplay. Carroll performs multiple roles and is featured in almost every scene. Robert Creeley narrates. Other readers include\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Cover Art - Doctor Sax and the Great World Snake (2003)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/drsax.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4755,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/feature-articles\/the-sultan-of-st-marks\/","url_meta":{"origin":9436,"position":3},"title":"The Sultan of St. Mark’s","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Sultan of St. Mark's By Jerry StahlThe Paper, December 1998 (pages 54-55) Poet Jim Carroll Gives Readers a Dose of the Divine Jim Carroll: The Sultan of St. Mark's Photograph by Imke Lass \"I never liked coke when I was young. I didn't like doing speedballs. It was like\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\/thepaper.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4198,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/feature-articles\/a-poet-half-devoured\/","url_meta":{"origin":9436,"position":4},"title":"A Poet Half-Devoured","author":"catholicboy.com","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Andrew O'HehirSan Francisco Bay Guardian\u00a012 April 1995 Jim Carroll survives junk, rock and roll, middle age, and a flimsy screen version of\u00a0The Basketball Diaries. Most of us are lucky to be born with half a talent, or a quarter of one, and then to not squander it utterly. Jim\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4210,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/jim-carrolls-interviews\/mercury-rising\/","url_meta":{"origin":9436,"position":5},"title":"Mercury Rising: Jim Carroll Can’t Escape Rock & Roll","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Marlene GoldmanRolling Stone\u00a08 January 1999 Nevermind that his most famous literary body of work,\u00a0The Basketball Diaries, was penned between the ages of twelve and sixteen. Jim Carroll, now 48, is at a prolific peak. His new book of poems,\u00a0Void of Course, mixes his wry sense of humor with his\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\/9436","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=9436"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9816,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9436\/revisions\/9816"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/folder?post=9436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}