John Thomas Idlet
John Thomas Idlet | |
---|---|
Born | Westwood, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | December 31, 1930
Occupation | Poet |
Spouse | Philomene Long |
Website | www |
John Thomas Idlet (John Thomas) (December 31, 1930 – March 29, 2002) was an American
Early life
John Thomas Idlet was born in Baltimore in 1930, the son of a teacher and World War I veteran who claimed to have invented the "double header" ice-cream cone.[1][3] His father later committed suicide.[1] Thomas attended Loyola College and described being "poisoned by Thomas Wolfe at an early age".[1][3] After school, he considered entering the priesthood, but instead served in the Air Force during the
Venice beat years
At Venice Beach Thomas worked as the manager and chef of the Gas House, a project which aimed to provide free meals to poets and artists who were living rent-free at the Grand Hotel
"I think maybe today a poem I hope
after breakfast I start trying
pulling it out of my own gut
mostly by force"
He recognized that he had always wanted to be a man who had written books, rather wanting to do the actual work of writing. He admitted that his earlier "novel-writing ambition was just sheer, vulgar pretense, wanting to be a great man."[4]
Thomas was member of Venice beats, a little-known group described as "an outlaw strain in Southern California letters", by the historian John Arthur Maynard.[3] The Venice beats were outsiders who rejected popular culture and fame, preferring lives of poverty and art.[3][6] According to Maynard, instead of wanting to change the world like other beats, "[w]hat they really wanted to do was to write their poems, paint their paintings, take their drugs, love their friends and keep from getting busted by the police."[3] Thomas was highly sexually active and "a great connoisseur of fellatio, threesomes and communal erotic activity".[1] In early 1970s, he invited his 15-year-old daughter, he had not seen for 12 years, to visit, gave her drugs and engaged in oral sex with her.[2][7][8]
Thomas was a key founding member of the "Venice West Foot Stamping & Poem Eating Society", which met at the Venice West Coffee House. Though planned, the group never produced a planned magazine, due to lack of funds.[1] Thomas' abandoned wife sued him for non-support and he had to escape to San Francisco to avoid the police.[1] On his return, Thomas taught classes at the Free University of California, hosted at the Pot-Pourri Coffee House.[1]
Thomas' first collection of poems, Apologia was published in 1972 in a limited edition of 405 copies. Thirty of the copies numbered, signed, and "sealed" by the author, presumably so they could not be read.[1] Four years later Thomas published Epopoeia and the Decay of Satire which consisted of the same works, except that some of the poems in the first collection had been deleted from the second.[1]
For most of the 1970s and early 1980s he stopped writing poetry at all, and instead "listen[ed] to the trees" and write a journal.[3] Thomas published another collection of poetry, "Abandoned Latitudes" in 1983.[3] Idlet's poem "The Ghosts of the Poets" is engraved on wall of the Venice boardwalk.[6][8]
Later years
Thomas met his fourth wife, the poet Philomene Long in 1983 at a poetry reading.[5] The couple were inseparable in his last years, and Thomas dedicated his final poems to her.[6]
He said she "resurrected him." They lived together on the edge of American society, maintaining a lifestyle of "living poor" based on the ancient Zen recluse poets. "I would feel uncomfortable and irritable living any other way. I have Philomene, a pen, a pad, shirt and pants. If you start wanting more, it fills you up, leading to a poverty of the heart and mind."[citation needed]
Thomas spent the sunset days of his life in his house in Venice Beach and reading while sitting under a sweet gum tree on the grounds of the Zen Center of Los Angeles.[1]
In 2002, Idlet pleaded no contest to a charge of unlawful sexual contact with his 15-year-old daughter in the 1970s, and was sentenced to 120 days in jail. Less than 3 weeks into his sentence, Thomas died of
Legacy
Thomas's poetry was praised for its grace and clarity, and he was an exceptional reader of his own work.
Poetry
- Epopoeia and the Decay of Satire. Los Angeles: Red Hill Press, 1976.
- Abandoned Latitudes: New Writing by Three Los Angeles Poets, Los Angeles: Invisible City/Red Hill Press (1983)
- The Book of Sleep. John Thomas and Philomene Long. Momentum Press, 1991.
- "You'll Despise Me For this, But I'm Going To Say It Anyway" contained in The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 1999.
- Feeding The Animal. Poetry by John Thomas. Lummox Press, 2001.
- Our Life: The One Secret, Philomene, That Surprises Death. Audio recording. Produced by Raven Productions. CD Amazon.com, 2002.
- The Selected Poems and Prose of John Thomas. Venice, CA. Raven Productions / Press. www.raven-productions.com, 2011.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Dannatt, Adrian (2002-06-06). "Obituary: John Thomas". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2008-06-28.[dead link]
- ^ a b c Suarez, Kelly-Anne (May 20, 2006). "Death of Poet in Jail Draws Suit, Attention to Inmate Medical Care". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Woo, Elaine (8 April 2002). "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- ^ ISBN 0-8135-1965-9.
- ^ a b Glauberman, Naomi. "Eating in with Venice bohemians John Thomas and Philomene Long". Los Angeles New Times. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- ^ a b c d e f Dewey, Fred (June 2002). Epitaph: John Thomas. p. 28. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
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ignored (help) - ^ Idlet, Gabrielle (2002-07-17). "Hitting the Beats". L. A. Weekly. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
- ^ a b c d Pfeifer, Stuart (March 21, 2007). "Inmate's widow gets $475,000 in jail lawsuit". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
External links
- Thomas, John (2008-02-01). "When Jack Kerouac Came To Venice". The Free Venice Beachhead.
- Woo, Elaine (2002-04-13). "Poet John Thomas – he threw his weight and his words around". from the Los Angeles Times. The San Francisco Chronicle (SFGate.com). Retrieved 2008-06-28.
- "Art-Books/Poetic-Licentiousness". L. A. Weekly. 2002-08-08.