Posted by trouble on March 15, 2002, at 3:39:57
Hey y'all,
We lost our unofficial poet laureate this month and there's a hole in this town.
He was in his 70s, and to the end, on his deathbed, he wrote one poem, every day of his life, and on days he skipped, he'd double up on the morrow. Then he'd go to the local copy shop and run off a bunch, collate them, and put the chapbooks in venues around town. This was his life.The last thing I ordered from him was called A Cosmology Of Madness, so I guess he was one of us, but since he was such a reticent man whether he had a community of support and education is a question for the biographer. I just hope he did.
He was known mostly for being a keen observer of people, and possessed a rigorous and critical intellect, but you'd never know that to speak to him, since he always had a kind word for everyone, self included the one time I had a chance to chat w/ him.
A few years ago a young, in-yer-face female slam poet told me she thought Huff was just a pathetic old man that we've all come to tolerate and I suppose that remark is what 86ed our budding friendship on the spot. I guess it goes to show how thankless the job of poet laureate can be, but there he was, day after day at the neighborhood cafes scribbling devastation while enamating peace and good will.
We've lost alot of musicians in Austin lately, but this one-paragraph farewell on the arts page is the one keeping me up these nights.
See you soon Huff,
love, Robin
poster:trouble
thread:19879
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20020314/msgs/19879.html