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He, Leo: The Life and Poetry of Lew Welch
Largely remembered for his mysterious disappearance in May 1971, Lew Welch was an important voice of the Beat Generation and San Francisco Renaissance. He spoke of key issues that America was facing in the aftermath of World War II—from the rise of consumerism and complacent suburban sensibilities to the threat of environmental disaster. He championed American speech, idioms, and identities. He found inspiration in the words of Gertrude Stein and William Carlos Williams, in the philosophies of Senzaki and the Buddha, and in his myriad friendships with some of the most renowned and revered poets, musicians, and artists of the 1950s and 1960s. His search for authenticity in language and poetry was a small part of a far greater search to establish a clear sense of himself.
He, Leo investigates Welch's life and work in a chronological fashion, structured around Welch's own notion of how three main aspects of his life—The Man, The Mountain, and The City—were interdependent. From his birth until his disappearance and presumed death, Welch's life was often defined by problems, including a complex relationship with his mother, a long struggle with alcohol, and a fluctuating mental state. He was open and candid about everything, a fact that is evident in all aspects of his work.
Each of the three main sections of He, Leo includes key poems, essays, and events—both personal and cultural—to help establish Welch's importance as a prominent poet and figure during the San Francisco Renaissance. Despite his crushing self-criticism and his reputation as a "friend of," he was a bona fide poet with a strong voice and message of his own. With this first full-length biography, Ewan Clark restores Lew Welch to his rightful place as an important member of a significant American literary and cultural movement.
He, Leo investigates Welch's life and work in a chronological fashion, structured around Welch's own notion of how three main aspects of his life—The Man, The Mountain, and The City—were interdependent. From his birth until his disappearance and presumed death, Welch's life was often defined by problems, including a complex relationship with his mother, a long struggle with alcohol, and a fluctuating mental state. He was open and candid about everything, a fact that is evident in all aspects of his work.
Each of the three main sections of He, Leo includes key poems, essays, and events—both personal and cultural—to help establish Welch's importance as a prominent poet and figure during the San Francisco Renaissance. Despite his crushing self-criticism and his reputation as a "friend of," he was a bona fide poet with a strong voice and message of his own. With this first full-length biography, Ewan Clark restores Lew Welch to his rightful place as an important member of a significant American literary and cultural movement.
384 pages, Paperback
Published October 15, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 6, 2024
An easy five stars. A stunning, in-depth and moving biography on one of the Beats whose life and legacy has been under-researched, but with the publication of this book, here's hoping that will change.
Late one afternoon in May 1971, after listening to a lecture about Samuel Johnson's essay, "The Vulture" read by his close friend and fellow poet-in-arms, Gary Snyder, Welch picked up his .22 revolver and vanished into thin air. In hindsight, there were plenty of signs that this was coming, especially his "Song of the Turkey Buzzard" poem. If one is going to take one's life and bow out, I can't think of a more poetic (but still tragic) way to go - offer your body to the birds.
Welch had been asked by a friend if he could live his life again, what he would have been. He replied "an ecologist" and the way he ended his life shows a complete belief in and devotion to the preservation of the food chain and ecology.
But enough on Welch's disappearance and presumed suicide. This book is about SO much more than that. It is a celebration of his life and poetry and a critical biography which analyzes many of his key works very astutely, from Wobbly Rock (his first publication), through to one of his strongest collections, Hermit Poems, to the final, blazingly beautiful The Song Mt. Tamalpais Sings.
Welch led a tough life. There was always something eating at him, long before the turkey buzzards / vultures. It was either his long, difficult relationship with his mother Dorothy (Clark analyzes their rocky relationship, sometimes from a Freudian angle), his own self-criticism (he was very harsh on himself and his own work), or the constant spectre of the bottle (like Kerouac he had a 'drinking problem' for much of his life). Ultimately, his body started to fall apart as did his resolve. His relationships with women, for one reason or another, did not last, although the last years he spent with Magda, acting as a stepfather to Jeff (and to Huey Lewis) may have been some of his happiest.
What was also interesting about this book was Welch's relationships with other writers of his time - the times he spent with Kerouac (including the now legendary get-together at Big Sur), his correspondence with Duncan, getting drunk with Olson at the Berkeley Conference in 1965, his relationship with Ginsberg (on whose land he was to build his own cabin in his last days), and of course his best buddies, Gary Snyder and Philip Whalen. He admired both of them tremendously. He was quite jealous of Snyder's success and stability and thought Whalen was "the most intelligent poet in America."
Prior to becoming one of the major figures of the San Francisco Renaissance, he also wrote a brilliant thesis on Stein, greatly admired by William Carlos Williams (an early mentor and penpal) and Robert Creeley, among others.
All in all, Welch led a short, somewhat sad life but left behind a beautiful collection of poems. In some sense, he also reminds me of Beckett, in the sense that he went more for quality rather than quantity. Almost every one of Welch's poems are top quality (which is more than you can say for Ginsberg or Bukowski, who are very hot and cold). In his final years, his philosophies had much in common with what I call 'the thinking hippies', i.e. people like the Diggers, who were really trying to think of solutions to many of the problems caused by modern urban life, which Welch called a 'din'. Over time, I suspect people will turn more to his poetry and prose for clues on how society should go forward. Let's face it, the capitalist system and society we live in is far from perfect. People like Welch were exploring ways in which we could live a more spiritually and ecologically fulfilling life, not only for ourselves, but for all beings on the planet.
Late one afternoon in May 1971, after listening to a lecture about Samuel Johnson's essay, "The Vulture" read by his close friend and fellow poet-in-arms, Gary Snyder, Welch picked up his .22 revolver and vanished into thin air. In hindsight, there were plenty of signs that this was coming, especially his "Song of the Turkey Buzzard" poem. If one is going to take one's life and bow out, I can't think of a more poetic (but still tragic) way to go - offer your body to the birds.
Welch had been asked by a friend if he could live his life again, what he would have been. He replied "an ecologist" and the way he ended his life shows a complete belief in and devotion to the preservation of the food chain and ecology.
But enough on Welch's disappearance and presumed suicide. This book is about SO much more than that. It is a celebration of his life and poetry and a critical biography which analyzes many of his key works very astutely, from Wobbly Rock (his first publication), through to one of his strongest collections, Hermit Poems, to the final, blazingly beautiful The Song Mt. Tamalpais Sings.
Welch led a tough life. There was always something eating at him, long before the turkey buzzards / vultures. It was either his long, difficult relationship with his mother Dorothy (Clark analyzes their rocky relationship, sometimes from a Freudian angle), his own self-criticism (he was very harsh on himself and his own work), or the constant spectre of the bottle (like Kerouac he had a 'drinking problem' for much of his life). Ultimately, his body started to fall apart as did his resolve. His relationships with women, for one reason or another, did not last, although the last years he spent with Magda, acting as a stepfather to Jeff (and to Huey Lewis) may have been some of his happiest.
What was also interesting about this book was Welch's relationships with other writers of his time - the times he spent with Kerouac (including the now legendary get-together at Big Sur), his correspondence with Duncan, getting drunk with Olson at the Berkeley Conference in 1965, his relationship with Ginsberg (on whose land he was to build his own cabin in his last days), and of course his best buddies, Gary Snyder and Philip Whalen. He admired both of them tremendously. He was quite jealous of Snyder's success and stability and thought Whalen was "the most intelligent poet in America."
Prior to becoming one of the major figures of the San Francisco Renaissance, he also wrote a brilliant thesis on Stein, greatly admired by William Carlos Williams (an early mentor and penpal) and Robert Creeley, among others.
All in all, Welch led a short, somewhat sad life but left behind a beautiful collection of poems. In some sense, he also reminds me of Beckett, in the sense that he went more for quality rather than quantity. Almost every one of Welch's poems are top quality (which is more than you can say for Ginsberg or Bukowski, who are very hot and cold). In his final years, his philosophies had much in common with what I call 'the thinking hippies', i.e. people like the Diggers, who were really trying to think of solutions to many of the problems caused by modern urban life, which Welch called a 'din'. Over time, I suspect people will turn more to his poetry and prose for clues on how society should go forward. Let's face it, the capitalist system and society we live in is far from perfect. People like Welch were exploring ways in which we could live a more spiritually and ecologically fulfilling life, not only for ourselves, but for all beings on the planet.
April 27, 2024
A well-written and well-researched book on a fascinating subject. It's crazy that it took so long for someone to write a biography of Welch but we have now been rewarded with this excellent study. Clark has done a great job of examining his life and work. Granted, there are some hazy parts where we just don't know the truth (Welch, like most Beats was an incorrigible mythologiser) but overall Clark's done a great job at gathering this man's life together and making into a book that is both wonderfully readable and also informative. It's accessible enough for those who know little about Welch yet detailed enough for Beat scholars.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews