At the end of his relatively somber 1992 poem “After Lalon,” Allen Ginsberg–usually the sunniest of the beat writers–cautioned his readers:
Oh yes I was impressed, almost
dont follow my path
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Ginsberg’s path had its bumps, which became all the more visible after his death when his critics joined in the postmortem analysis. But Elling does not intend to whitewash the proceedings. “It certainly won’t be just ‘rah rah Ginsberg,’” he says; rather, he envisions “an argument” about the poet’s work, one that he hopes will foster a discussion that will continue after the evening ends.
One surprising element is the participation of artist Ed Paschke, who will appear not with a paintbrush but with book in hand: Elling and his coproducer Irving Zucker have entrusted him with the reading of Ginsberg’s epic “Howl,” published in 1956. Elling had wanted a reader who would confound expectations and bring something novel to the work. Paschke admits to a slight nervousness about his new role. “But I have the security of the words to comfort me,” he says. “I first became aware of the poem when I was in art school. Ginsberg was doing a reading somewhere in the city, and I saw the publicity. Then I read ‘Howl’ and On the Road, and it helped form a viewpoint or philosophy for me about how one approaches life as a creative person–that everything is potential subject matter, nothing is off-limits, and that the name of the game is to embrace life as fully as possible.”
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): Allen Ginsberg photo by Marc PoKempner.
