Tue, Jan 29, in flight

I've selected the excellent new bio of Louis Zukofsky by Mark Scroggins for my in-flight reading. Yes, rather highbrow for an airplane, but seemed appropriate on the way to NY given it's where LZ was born, raised, lived & died. Some engaging details so far about his father, Pinchos Zukofsky: he worked 6am til 9pm pressing pants (laborious work), only retiring at 81 yrs old. 9pm was actually leaving early, too--sometimes he worked til midnight, and ALSO was then their night watchman for awhile. Scroggins does a really nice job painting a picture of lower east side immigrant jewish culture (Pinchos born in a part of Lithuania that's now Belarus) just past the turn of the century.


This book is good, too, to help keep in mind that just because many poets will be in NY, it won't be all of them by a longshot. Many more take Zukofsky's route, who kept generally clear of such semi-professionalized gatherings of poets all his life.

Brent