BY LOIS WADSWORTH
Eugene Celebrates Kesey
On Friday, Nov. 14, the symposium begins at 7 pm in the EMU
Fir Room, with a panel, “Fifty Years Young: the Beats Go On,”
chaired by poet Paul Dresman, with panelists Dan Elkinson,
William Lawlor and Jody Spedaliere.
At 9 am on Saturday, Nov. 15, David Mackay chairs
“Electric Art for Mind and Body” with panelists Martin Blank,
Katie Mills And Timothy D. Ray. At 10:45, Suzanne Clark
chairs panel on “Kesey the Writer,” with panelists David Scott
Arnold, Bennett Huffman and Stephen W. Potts.
At 9 am on Sunday, Nov. 16, Mark Chilton chairs “Living the
Novel: Community, Collaboration and Performance,” with pan-
elists Rick Dodgson, Lynn Jeffress and Michael Strelow. At
10:45 Matthew Buonincontro chairs the final panel, “Facing
West: Literary Encounters at Perry Lane,” with panelists Thomas
E. Douglass, Stefan Fleischer and Carolyn Coppola White.
In print, stone, play and song.
KESEY’S JAIL
JOURNAL:
CUT THE
M************
LOOSE. Written by
Ken Kesey. Introduction
by Ed McClanahan.
Viking Penguin, 2003.
Hardcover,
$34.95.
Stone
SPIT IN THE
OCEAN #7: ALL
ABOUT KESEY.
Edited by Ed
McClanahan. Foreword
by Gus Van Sant.
Penguin Books, 2003.
Paperback, $15.
Print
O
ne of Ken Kesey’s most enduring qualities on the
second anniversary of his death is the regard fellow
writers have for his love of the written word, his re-
gard for the classics — the Bible, Shakespeare,
Melville, Whitman, Crane, Hemingway — and his
dedication to the craft of writing. Kesey famously studied creative
writing under Wallace Stegner at Stanford in the early 1960s, along
with a class of luminaries that included Wendell Berry, Ed
McClanahan, Ken Babs, Gurney Norman, Larry McMurtry,
Robert Stone, Ernest Gaines and Tillie Olsen.
Pieces by Kesey’s writing pals, Kesey and others are included
in the 25 stories in Spit in the Ocean #7, the final issue in the series.
Edited by writer Ed McClanahan, some entries speak of Kesey’s
literary work while others enjoy his manifestations as tripmaster,
Prankster, performance artist. Some recognize his love
of home and family, his great fondness for reading to his
grandchildren and other kids. Paul Zarzyski’s poem ti-
tled “Further-Bless-America Big-Bang Future-
Flashback Boogie,” captures Kesey’s spirit in its final
passage:
Your kaleidoscopic mind keelhauls
all that is not
iconoclastic, climbs aboard the next rocket
bronco out and, following the lodestar
known to us as Poetry, lifts you off,
awestruck, into the eternal
fireworks of words.
Kesey would have loved the metamorphosis of his
late 1960s jail journals into this oversized, lavishly il-
lustrated book published Nov. 10 by Viking, Kesey’s
Jail Journal. His artwork enhances the hand-written text, which
is reprinted in conventional book form. Written in the language
of the time, 1967, Kesey’s journals reveal again what makes his
storytelling memorable: keen observation and true dialogue.
The “characters” — his fellow cell-mates and the deputies who
try to keep everyone in line — come alive on the page.
One night following the clandestine delivery of “five good old
Owsley purples” (high-quality LSD) to the low-security camp in
the redwoods where Kesey worked, he sets this scene:
“We sit around the dayroom listening to James
Brown, watching Liso and Breems pantomiming the
words, playing with the pens Ed [McClanahan] brought
me (very popular items; our dayroom table’s filled with
Bloods sketching and doodling — looks like a CORE art
class) — passing time and waiting for the Friday night flick
to be announced.
Bland is tipped back in a chair, stocking feet on the
table watching Liso and Breems bop around. Bland is a
straight-haired Blood, tall, good-looking and probably got
some Louisiana in his background. Talks very low and
very slow and watches Liso and Breems with the super-
cool benevolence of the older Negro patiently waiting for
the young bucks to wise up. Finally says, ‘Breem — ?’ …
like a note blown across a big black jug. ‘What is it ex-act-
ly … you in here for?’
Breems says ‘I’m in the county jail, sir, for goin’ too
fast, stepping too quick … and for not bein’ too cool.’ Then
he goes at Liso with a karate stance. ‘Haw!’ Liso returns
the gesture ‘Haw!’ and makes a swipe ‘Eeeeyaw!’
‘Bitch! You kicked me with those big brogans! Almost
break my blue glasses …’
Bland sniffs at the whole performance: ‘Bunch of wet-
nosed cock lickers,’ obviously pleased with the way this
younger generation is shaping up. “
BRIAN LANKER
BRIAN LANKER
Sculptor Pete Helzer was commissioned to create a life-size,
bronze sculpture called “The Storyteller” as a memorial to Ken
Kesey. And thanks to the efforts of Kesey friend and Pulitzer
Prize-winning photographer, Brian Lanker, the project has been
supported by more than 250 donors so far, meeting 90 percent
of the $120,000 goal. Donors include Phil Knight, Paul
Newman, Milos Forman, Larry McMurtry, Dave Frohnmayer,
Michael Douglas, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Tom Wolfe, Tom
Robbins, Ed McClanahan, Kenny Moore, Rich Brooks, Jean
Auel, Sterling Lord, Dale Wasserman, Brian Booth, Bill
Walton, Rolling Stone Magazine, Viking Penguin and the
Chambers Family Foundation.
Sculptor Pete Helzer puts final touch to
“The Storyteller.”
The sculpture will become part of the City of Eugene’s Art
in Public Places collection. Fundraising will continue, and con-
tributions are tax-deductible.
The sculpture, which depicts Kesey seated on a granite
bench, reading a book to three children, will be unveiled at 1 pm
on Friday, Nov. 14, at the intersection of Broadway and
Willamette. Speakers include Barry Lopez, Mayor Jim Torrey,
Faye Kesey, Lanker and Helzer.
Play
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, adapted for the stage,
will be performed at the UO Robinson Theatre through Nov. 22,
and Eugene Weekly’s theater critic, Aria Seligmann, says
“don’t miss.” See review on page 23.
Song
Kesey’s Jail Journal, Page 47.
Plan to be present at 7 pm on Thursday, Nov. 13, at Tsunami
Books for “The Last Kesey Test.” Guest readers include Ed
McClanahan, Ken Babbs, David Stanford, Glen Love, Eileen
Babbs and Pat Mackey. various Pranksters and friends. Free.
Also, the UO Ken Kesey Symposium, Nov. 14 -16, cele-
brates Kesey’s work and his influence on literature and culture.
The String Cheese Incident (Untying the Knot) will hold a hol-
iday benefit concert at 8 pm on Wednesday, Dec. 10 at the
McDonald Theatre. The “Ken Kesey Memorial Benefit” is a
fundraiser for the Kesey sculpture to be unveiled in downtown
Eugene on Nov. 14.
Night of the concert, doors open at 7:15 pm. For ticket infor-
mation, log on to www.sciticketing.com or call (303) 544-5875.
The band will play the Salem Armory on Dec. 11 and the
Paramount in Seattle on Dec. 12 and 13. For more info,
www.stringcheeseincident.com.
ew
NOVEMBER 13, 2003 11