Progress on movie script for Eel Pie Island Dharma

pic of Richmond Park fallow deer by Tom Hanson



Subject: Photos of Richmond

Hey Chris,
Have been gathering some photos for you over the past few weeks, I hope they get the memories flowing! Richmond park, the river etc.
Sam and I have 20 pages of our screenplay down but I have just started rehearsals for a play so we’re on hiatus for a few weeks, we’re still hoping to have it done by the end of the year!
Best
T x

                                                 ~    ~    ~    ~

Hi Tom, Sam & Weed,
Thanks for the great pics of Richmond!  Man, are they ever getting the memories flowing  ;  )-  I recognize many of the exact spots, esp. in Richmond Park. I remember swimming in the little reservoir in the park with California Jon and a very precocious & brave schoolgirl. Another time my girlfriend, her sister and her friend lured me into joining them on a horse riding excursion thru the park from Putney to Richmond. I usually love animals, but I have to admit I'm afraid of horses. My elderly nag recognized my fear, & waded into the pond and just stubbornly stood there for what seemed like half an hour! Then one of the other horses threw its rider, and we had to capture it before we returned to Putney ;  )- 

Thanks esp for the pic of The Hermitage, where I briefly lived with Crippled Eddie and several other Richmond crashers. In those days we had to put a sixpence in the hot water metre to have a scanty sponge bath!

The park fallow deer look bigger and healthier than I remember. I recall taking a nap in the tall grass of Richmond Park, and awakening to find several deer had decided to nap within a few feet of me!

Congrats on getting 20 pages written. I've been meaning to say you have my blessings to write a creative imagining of EPID. When I watch movies based on a book,  the intro credits acknowledge it is 'based on such & such a true story'. I told my version of my history in EPID, but you are welcome to make whatever adaptations you feel will help make the best movie.

peace & continued productivity!
Canadian Chris  
 

Leslie Darlene Jackson (Webb) 1949 - 2017

Original Innocence

the instinct of survival
born so strong in some
reaching out and haunting
reminding me of origins

I can not make a move
without the memory of
childhood rising up and
flaunting her intuitive
emotions before me

each decision
infiltrated with time
barring intellect from
reigning surpreme


Leslie Webb
from her chapbook Original Innocence 
1988, Unfinished Monument Press



Leslie floated into the heart of the Toronto poetry scene at one of the first meetings of the Canadian Poetry Association. The meeting was held on Bloor Steet in one of the meeting rooms of The Bloor Street United Church. Strains from the recently founded music group, Tafelmusik, floated into the room with Leslie. Leslie was a glittering butterfly, among the self-consciously drab and introverted gathering of poets.

The year was 1986, and Milton Acorn, one of Canada's foremost poets, had just died. Gwendolyn MacEwen, Milton's one-time wife and also a recipient of Canada's top literary award, The Governor General's Award for Poetry, was shyly hanging out by the coffee machine. I like to think they met at this gathering, although I don't know for certain. When I informed philosopher and poetry scene eminence grise Terry Barker about Leslie's passing, he shared fond memories of Leslie reading a tribute poem at the El Mocambo memorial reading for Milton Acorn.

Leslie had landed smack in the middle of the scene, fresh from success as a television cable host and interviewer. Perhaps interviewing artists in a wide variety of fields had encouraged Leslie to pursue her interest in writing poetry. Leslie had already appeared in a number of community theatre productions and had enjoyed some successes with smaller parts in major Hollywood movies. I remember accompanying her on one such all night shoot on Yonge Street. Movie star Burt Reynolds was the director, and Yonge Street had been flooded by  fire hoses to give an atmosphere of recent rainfall. Leslie was in her glory during the shoot, despite staying up all night for just a few moments in the camera's glare. Around this time she also appeared in the Tom Cruise movie, "Cocktail".

The mid to late 1980s were happy and busy years for Leslie, and she thrived on what were literally overlapping creative roles as a poet and an actress. She introduced me to the Toronto theatre scene, and I saw several productions with her, including "A Christmas Carol" in which her husband, Gord, starred, and the English farce, "Key for Two", featuring her friend Dolly.

A number of Toronto poets befriended Leslie, and several encouraged her writing. Among these was populist poet Ted Plantos, sometimes called 'The Cabbagetown Kid', for his role in publishing other poets and in organizing poetry readings. Leslie had other fans, among these were the self-proclaimed 'Dark-Eyed Bard', Tom Crane, and Rick Kroll. Leslie shared an interest in astrology and psychology with both.

Of course I recognized Leslie's talents as a poet, and in 1988 I published her chapbook, "Original Innocence", with my small press, Unfinished Monument. Her poetry was well received, and almost three decades later her poems are as poignant and strong as when she first wrote, read and published them. Her occasionally harsh depictions of family life and societal indifference are now more mainstream than when she first presented them. In hindsight she was a cutting edge poet, who never received her full due as a Canadian poet.

I remember a fall walk with Leslie in the park at Ashbridge's Bay. As we rounded a turn on the path, a small bush seemed to be on colourful fire. Thousands of migrating monarch butterflies were resting before their flight across Lake Ontario. Ever since, whenever I walk in Ashbridge's Bay, or see a fluttering monarch, I think of Leslie and her vulnerable, but beautiful, spirit.

rare Canadian poetry for postage cost (?)

bill bissett recently sent me the following request for help finding homes for extra copies of his seminal blewointmentpress collections. I also have extra copies of Unfinished Monument Press poetry I published from the late 1970s thru the 1980s. It looks like we're both open to offers - a little help with postage and you could snag some rare collectible Canadiana! 

dere chris hi great 2 heer from yu
evreething sounds xcelent ther
evreethings xcelent heer
iuv bin going thru all my stuff
taking out th xtra blewointmentpress'
books n stuff
wher i dont know th address uv th
prson
in a lot uv cases i dew n sent xtra copeez
2  th author  sumtimes i cant find out
tho n i need mor space heer
i drempt reelee uv yu cumming 4 t n
picking them n taking them 2 nicky in
t bay 2 sell them 4 yrself or give them 2
him whatevr yu want 2 dew on yr next
brillyant road trip n thers not that manee
uv them

itul prob take anothr month 4 me 2 get
it 2gethr
sumtime let me know if ths is a viabul or
brillyant plan 4 yu

hope yu ar having an awsum evreething
lots uv love n thanks
bill


still more offers:


Hi Chris,
Wonderful to hear from you -- as always. I guess there are a few of us in the same situation. I've got piles of Rampikes plus books from IWI Communications, and Underwhich Editions (two small presses that I was involved with years ago). Yeah, and Nicky is mighty far away.

It's an odd puzzle, isn't it? You'd think there would be something like a major Library wing or some "safe-house" for literary publishers (maybe funded by some arts-related government wing -- possibly on the municipal or provincial level). Well, I guess there is no such thing, although I do know that some libraries will take publishers' old poetry collections  (limited numbers -- a few copies of each book) for their archives. It might be worth a try approaching some Toronto libraries (either city libraries or maybe university or college ones).

I'm pretty sure that blewointment could find a home (has bill been consulted -- hope he's doing ok). Unfinished Monument doesn't have quite the fame, but it's still important and maybe the two could be linked with a library placement -- especially if there are some cross-over authors involved with both of those small presses. Just a thought.
I'm in the same situation. Sigh.

Peace and love to you to, brother!
Karl
Dr. Karl E. Jirgens, Editor, Rampike Magazine
Dept. of English Language, Literature & Creative Writing
Professor, University of Windsor

                                               
                                                      ~      ~      ~


$$$$ Be a mule for the CCLA.  :-)  books not drugs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear All – See the word BUT – it is an important BUT that you can help pay for.

Hi Chris and Bill – about your orphan poetry book collections

Let me start with the word BUT.

I can take one (1)  copy of every Canadian published book that you have BUT they will be going to Cuba. I have pledged to the University of Holguín that I will build the largest collection in all of Cuba of Canadian Literature – including poetry – for the university library. Actually we are well on the way. Kim and I are taking hundreds more this winter.

I have letters from the Cuban Consul, the head of the Canadian Studies program, from the head of the English department as well as from a professor that is coordinating this BUT we need money to pay for the shipping. Books are heavy. Because I am the prez of the CCLA – Canada Cuba Literary Alliance – we are given a free extra luggage to carry books when we fly West Jet.  If you want to go to Cuba with books I can arrange for you to have an extra luggage for the books also.

If you want to give the nudge to your friends and collect the cash we can take more but they will have to be paid for.

Collect the cash, send me the book and the cash and I will take them or arrange for them to go.

I THINK that they will charge me $30 for the 3rd luggage and $30 for each one after that but I will have to check. I will have to check my ticket for how heavy each $30 can be.

If anyone is interested you can contact me.

All the best

tai

This message is being sent from
Hidden Brook Press, or the personal email of Richard M. Grove = Tai

60s Commune Survivors

Two Twickenham screenwriters are writing a screenplay based on my memoir Eel Pie Island Dharma. As part of the creative process they are having email and long distance interviews with me about my background and experiences in the Eel Pie Island commune. The following emails are part of this exchange. The first was written by me, the second by Weed - I can't find Weed in the photo, so maybe he took the pic? That's me on the far left (where else) - I'd loaned my camera to another commune member to take this pic of the wedding of four of the Eel Pie islanders. Fall 1969!

Hi Tom & Sam,

Congrats on making major progress on your screenplay!

I was thinking of Cliff and Ame the other day, obviously because your project is stirring old memories. There were so many unresolvable contradictions in the late 1960s and the things we were involved with. Cliff was a consummate artist, and being an artist really didn't fit in with the hippie/commune lifestyle. Artists need time and space to create, whereas the hippie thing was about 'live for the moment', carpe diem.

I remember one of the commune women, Angie, who wanted to be a children's author. She commented how none of us were creating art - I wasn't writing much, the musicians were just getting stoned on hash all day, so I know Cliff must have had a hard time focusing on drawing his political cartoons and art. Weed has met with Cliff in fairly recent years, and he would have an interesting insight into Cliff's personality as well.

The concept of combining a hippie commune with an arts lab is laughable in hindsight. The psychedelic/hippie thing was created by artists and professors like Timothy Leary and Ken Kesey, via the beats like Kerouac, and then popularized by pop stars like The Beatles and The Stones. But as the culture filtered throughout society, it became increasingly watered down to the lowest common denominator. I remember someone snarking that I was wasting my time and money reading a book on psychedelics, rather than doing them. Well, shit, I'd done enough of them to know what the experiences were all about, but it's also helpful to be evaluative and creative as well as stoned and tripping all the time  ;  )- 

Cliff was one of the main founders of the EP commune, but none of us, esp. the artists, wanted to be "leaders". There was a definite vacuum of leadership because we all wanted to be equal AND stoned all the time, so no one was interested in assuming responsibility. Occasionally someone would move into the hotel and decide to be a "leader", but they soon found the responsibility of caring for all the runaway kids, heroin addicts, wannabe bikers etc. was not really very fulfilling  ;  )    (plus the pay was lousy)

Back to Cliff - I believe Cliff was more interested in the arts lab culture than creating a commune, but the sheer numbers of people moving in quickly overwhelmed the artsies among us. Also we were all poor, sometimes borderline starving, and I think Cliff mentioned in a book or an interview, that he had to do some petty hash dealing to survive. No money, no food, no privacy or place to create sure isn't conducive to artistic endeavours.

Hope this blather helps!
peace & continued creative energy!
Canadian Chris

p.s. I'm usu. available for long distance calls at short notice

                                          ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

hi Tom, Sam

>> what was Clifford Harper like when you first met him? And
>> what do you think his goal was for the commune?
> Weed... would have an interesting insight into Cliff's personality...

i take it you've already read his Wikipedia entry? -

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_Harper )

Clifford talks a lot about Eel Pie in his book "The Education Of Desire - The Anarchist Graphics of Cliff Harper" (Anarres Cooperative, 1984) -- it's in the form of a long interview with Adam Cornford -

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Cornford

if you can't get hold of it, let me know and i'll scan the relevant pages for you

[from the book] "Eel Pie I intended as an armed camp. I dropped that idea within two weeks because the people didn't want to know, so I just let it go the way it wanted to go."

He was also very influenced by The Living Theatre -

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Living_Theatre

tho he wanted to create static bases rather than have a mobile one -- [from the book] "But my idea was that it be a centre from which we raided society. With experience, theatre and vibrant agitation."

in general he's scathing about the middle-class apolitical hippies of the late 60s :) "...I was nagging away about working class revolution... I was forced to become a foreign body within the commune... Eventually I was up against the mass ranks of hippiedom."

he also talks about his life as a dope dealer there, "making money hand over fist" (though this might have been relative, not so much Havana cigars, as being able to afford tobacco rather than having to roll up dogends lol)

Clifford was active as an artist at the time, and as well as developing his style, was contributing artwork to magazines (i think "Idiot International" may have been one of them), tho i don't know how often

however all that was over 30 years ago, and today he'd probably have other perspectives to add, though his political ideas and ideals are still very much intact

in a 2007 interview he was asked if he would ever consider rejoining a commune, and replied, "Now that is an interesting question. Anytime before now, if you had asked me that I would have answered with a hollow, cynical laugh, 'Ha, Ha' but considering it now, for the first time in some years, I’m surprised to say that, 'Yes, I would'. I must have a think about this."

my personal memories of Cliff from Eel Pie days are very positive -- he was for the most part unflustered by the surrounding chaos

the group that initially moved in with him (Ame, Simon, Jonathon, Brennan, Anna and possibly one or two others) provided a political sensibility and at least a semblance of stability for the first few months -- i'm pretty sure that Cliff would have been the one to notify BIT about the occupation of the Hotel, and about it being available as a crashpad for people who were homeless or were passing through London without a place to stay -

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIT_(alternative_information_centre)

coincidently i got an email from Clifford earlier today, more of a circular, saying that he was going into hospital this coming monday (23rd Oct) to have his bladder removed -- because of the weak condition of his heart the operation is riskier that usual -- however if all goes well he will be back home by the end of the month -- (if you've not already been in contact with him, then when he's sufficiently recovered i'm happy to check whether he's interested in talking to you about that period of his life)

Weed

Haunted Pumpkin Walk

Haunted Pumpkin Walk Marmora Lion's Park 2007 Councilor Cathie replies to my Halloween email with a request for me to fill in for a sick volunteer. She needs help carving nine pumpkins and placing other spooky decorations around the village's beautiful main park beside the Crowe River. Her idea is to have trick or treaters follow the park's circular paths along a haunted pumpkin walk to several candy stations - Tomorrow birds will feed on the drying seeds we drop in haste At dusk we return to the park. I'm no longer a particularly social being, having many years service as a village librarian. I find I now prefer the rare, but always honest, awareness in wild animals, a few fellow crazed poets, and solitary monks. But handing out candy to children on All Hallows Eve appeals to me. I set down the plastic cauldron of candy, break a large weed bedraggled branch from the muddy river bank, and - At the first bend black & white dog & warlock greet stirring river mist Tiny witch names me leprechaun: young eyes still clear 4-year-old boy in a skeleton suit will be me in 55 years My small dog leaves just once to visit another dog Slowly shadows circle the park swirling dead leaves The monster mash makes my stupid feet move into the mystic Fairy princess after fairy princess many kingdoms on display Chris Faiers "Cricket" November 2007

from ZenRiver: poems & haibun, Hidden Brook Press, 2008

---

Chris Faiers (home)   |   biography & bibliography   |   Eel Pie Dharma

---