*** The James Humphrey Post has moved. All future blog posts will be posted at the new website/blog. 

9.0 linear feet.

That's the extent of the James Humphrey papers at the John Hay Library at Brown University in Providence, RI. The collection consists of the literary and personal papers of James. It includes correspondence with poets, publishers, friends and family; manuscripts for poems, novels, screenplays, essays and short stories, both published and unpublished; unframed abstract artwork, photographs and scrapbooks. The audio material in these papers consists of one audiocassette two compact discs and eight reel-to-reel tapes. The papers are dated from 1957-2009.

You can read more here.

James Humphrey, 1975, Cambridge, Massachusetts

James Humphrey’s birthday is today. Had he lived, he would have been 75 years old.


The Wonder of This Moment

Canada bluegrass, Chinese

whitegrass, brookgrass, wise

centipede, early dragonfly,

milkweed, sunflower nubs.

Season’s first popsicle.

The real air with reality,

shivers

James Humphrey 

from Ice, © Poets Alive Press, 1989

Sacramento Poet Laureate Bob Stanley penned this poem dedicated to James in 2011. Stanley has a new book Miracle Shine and he will be the guest of honor at a book signing on May 27th (7:30pm) at the Sacramento Poetry Center.

Ten Gallon Hat / Giving the World

a man rides out across

the landscape of his soul

into the emptiness of his worlds

and cries

jim

I never knew you

but your words cry out

in a language we all understand

the language of the kid

beaten back

the story we hear as myth

evil stepmother evil stepfather

except it’s not myth

and the kid

fights back

in ways he can

you were a star

a ballplayer who could hit

with the best of them

a writer who worked the edges of the scene

and fought for every game,

every reading

every moment

you fought back to find the peace

that your youth denied you

and songs came

and gave you life

the words

that you wrote for the woman

the words

you wrote for the boy

the words

gave you a life that lasted

longer than the one

you got in your

finally broken body

the old man steps up to the plate

and all the ballplayers snicker

but that over the hill dude

hits one into the seats,

then another

then another

line drives soaring across

the sky

meteors in the day

moving fast

your drive

sails on

and we’re watching today

we’re hearing your words

thanks Jim

for giving the ball a ride

giving the world what you did


Bob Stanley, 2011

In celebration if Jim’s birthday (he would have been 74 today), here’s an early unpublished poem from the archive. You can also hear Jim reading the poem (recorded in 1968 in Marshalltown, Iowa). Listen.


A Letter to One of My Poetry Students

Sure
poetry is 
bigger than 
you

Simply 
so 
is life

But go after it

try for more

Who put you in charge 
anyway?

Grab a hold
Let it 
come; let
it come

It’s there
Open 
your eyes

Look out

blink once or 
twice

concentrate

touch
yourself

Feel 
something different
for a change

Surprise yourself
Work at a 
solution

Plant something and 
help it 
grow

Can you hear 
me in 
there?

I'll love you, if
you'll love 
me

Jump aboard
It’s 
great from
here

Let’s swim in 
cold, clear 
water

Build a fire
Eat clams 
drink
wine

Let the ghosts go
this time 
out

And leave the rainbows
where they 
belong

Laugh a little —
blossom

Thinking 
before sleep —
warm 
in each other’s 
arms

How the whole 
world could 
love like 
this

But for God’s 
sake, 
quit crying about 
how rotten it 
is 
for 
you

You’ve too much 
to lose this 
way

And so little to 
gain —

even

if 

you 

never

write 

another

poem

for

as

long 

as 

you 

live

James Humphrey
Marshalltown, Iowa, 1968

©James Humphrey Trust

Each time I venture into the world of creative endeavor to share my husband's legacy, I feel elated and renewed.  This time I would be sharing several appropriate poems I chose from Naked, and three of Jim's earlier works (In Pursuit of Honour, Paying the Price and The Athlete) with young adults from the Sacramento County Youth Detention Facility.  I brought 21 copies of each of the titles to be added to a cheery new library space both male and female juveniles could borrow from on a weekly basis.  Eleven young women came single-file into the setting of plastic chairs, while I faced them in a padded swivel chair, a bare table beside me with Jim's books selectively displayed offering me comfort and likewise offering kindness and friendship to my audience.  During the 40 minutes of talking serious biography and reading what I sensed the most moving, life-sustaining poems from Jim's imagination, I heard not a pin drop.  Afterward, there were sensitive questions and even signs of personal caring.  An hour later, twelve young men from maximum security were ushered into the same area for a 40-minute session and again I shared Jim's life and poetry with these sensitive incarcerated human beings.  When the final boy was strip-searched on exiting, I felt weak all over, but gratified that only God knows how, if, or when any minuscule piece of life or love I imparted will make a positive difference in those precious teenage lives.  

Third reading from Late Peaches (Sacramento Poets Anthology, 2012) will be November 8th, 4 -5 pm at CSUS Library, Galleria.  See you there.

Late Peaches

New Poetry Anthology, Late Peaches, Sacramento Poetry Center, 2012 will have a second reading, Saturday, October 20 at the Antiquite Maison Privee, 6:30-9:30.  My poem, Cause of Death: Child Abuse, for James Humphrey (1939-2008) written 5 months after Jim's death, was accepted by the judges to be included along with 115 other poets from the Sacramento area. 


Cause of Death: Child Abuse

No safe-haven
when baby
infant
or
teen

Cause of death: child abuse
camouflaged  by
cardiopulmonary arrest

Didn't believe in suicide

Did believe a miraculous pain remedy out there
able to take lifelong suffering away
preventing accomplishment to become
acclaimed brain surgeon
renowned scientist
award-winning pianist
or
to finish stint with St. Louis Cardinals

Wanted to
live
life
to
fullest!

Fulfill destiny:
be greatest slugger of all time &
build a ranch for abused children life self

Gave as naturally
& easily
from
healthy
broken
heart

Pain into Performance

My qualifications for writing this blog is that I lived with the "greatest writer of his time," and as William Saroyan once told Jim  (50 years a writer), "Be of your time and if possible a little ahead of your time."  I invite you to see for yourself if what you read on Jim's site isn't that--timely and could have been written today.  Secondly, I am of the wise.  Hopefully I can express some of that wisdom.

It's baseball season's end and as a career in baseball was Jim's ultimate dream, I want to share his never ending dream.  While he was in indescribable pain up until his death, he wisely used his triumph from when he was a "champ", a "natural", a record-winning hitter, right fielder and clean-up batter during his youth, he never stopped getting into shape, making comebacks, and believing he could still play the game at age 62.  He transferred his pain into performance.  The principal of a major high school where Jim taught creative writing in the "Poets in the Schools" program (National Foundation for the Arts) asked him once while working out with their baseball and track team, "the record you hold for being the fastest quarter-miler was that fast because you felt your abusive step-father was chasing you, right?"  No, Mr. Kelly, my time would have been even better had I not been beaten because I would have had the proper shoes and the freedom and that love for running that sportsmen have.  Always, it was a life of sacrifice, giving up his dream and writing about his dream coupled with breaking the cycle of child abuse.  He could not watch a modern day baseball game as he knew "the score"--how overpaid the major league players were and how they didn't seem to earn those dollars on the field.  He was from a different time, a different place, a different script.  "Come babe!"

“Poetry Reading” As Read By Bob Stanley With The Brubeck Institute Jazz Quintet

The Sacramento Poetry Center presented a celebration of James Humphrey’s writing and life on November 19, 2011. It was a benefit for The Stanford Home For Children. What a pleasure to hear Sacramento Poet Laureate Bob Stanley improvise with the Brubeck Institute Jazz Quintet.

Sacramento Poet Laureate Bob Stanley Reads “Sons And Fathers”

The Sacramento Poetry Center presented a celebration of James Humphrey’s writing and life on November 19, 2011. It was a benefit for The Stanford Home For Children. What a pleasure to hear Bob Stanley read the poem with the Brubeck Institute Jazz Quintet, creating an amazing musical atmosphere.

Exhibition closes

 

“The Wonder of This Moment” exhibition ended earlier this month but it was great to share some of James Humphrey’s paintings with a new audience in Sacramento.

Paintings on display

Sacramento’s Urban Hive Gallery (1931 H Street) will feature a selection of James Humphrey’s paintings November 7th-December 5th.

The Wonder of This Moment Poetry Reading

On November 19th at 7pm, the Sacramento Poetry Center will present “The Wonder of This Moment” A celebration of James Humphrey at The California Stage. It will feature four poets, Eve West Bessier, Bob Stanley, Mary Zeppa, and Lawrence Dinkins. The award-winning Brubeck Institute Jazz Quintet will also perform. All proceeds will benefit the Stanford Home for Children. You can purchase advance tickets at Brown Paper Tickets.

Two unpublished poems on the anniversary of James Humphrey’s death

SNOW SNOW

Snow snow

where did you go

Norma & Jim

want to frolic in you

and watch

skeleton tree branches

become soft friendly arms

of winter love

JH, 6- 25/26-06

(2nd poem in 6 yrs)

CLIMB THESE STONES

OR CHISEL YOUR OWN

3 hours a day for eleven years

in different slaughter houses,

I scrubbed, sprayed blood off walls,

floors and scooped bones into buckets,

so I could spend precious hours

in public libraries throughout

the Midwest reading poetry and fiction

searching for my niche.

What I learned was to begin writing

with an empty head,

then let my instincts be my guide.

Stanzas and paragraphs hit me in a flash,

no matter the clock time

and had to be put on paper immediately,

otherwise they’re gone

as quickly as they came.

I began my 8-year apprenticeship

at actor Joel Grey’s suggestion.

At the crack of the New Year’s bell

in 1956, I felt I was ready for the

center ring!

Bones, NYC, published my first poem

A Modern Replacement

of the nine I held back.

My first collection of poems,

Argument for Love, hit the

bookstores in 1969.

Only a few poets, fiction writers

and playwrights are distinct individuals;

the rest are bland and neutral

personalities with little to say

and generally dull.

(Even an average poet gets lucky

And writes a few interesting stanzas.)

Talent dries up. Endurance doesn’t.

The few who make it an occupation

become more specialized

because their words don’t have

the plasticity of music,

painting or sculpture.

Great poets and fiction writers’

truths

come from deep inside their

emotions

subconscious

id

often opening themselves

to un-faced abuses:

complete exhaustion

we must write through daily.

Drilling with jack-hammers

is exhausting, but not what

the poet fiction writer playwright

endures.

It is external;

the other internal.

Our age does not—perhaps no age

Ever did—pay enough tribute and respect

to those masters of imagination.

The poet cannot make a living,

the novelist fares best as a

peeping tom,

and the playwright as a Simple Simon.

But the mere commentator, who

does little but rearrange the obvious,

is considered something of a marvel.

JH

6-27-06

(3rd poem in 6 yrs)

Memorial Poetry Reading On Video

See and hear Norma Humphrey during her April 10, 2010, memorial poetry reading for her late husband James Humphrey at Attleboro (Massachusetts) Public Library. Returning to the city where the family lived for nearly 10 years during the 1970s and early ’80s, Norma read for nearly an hour while a small gathering enjoyed hearing selected poems spanning 40 years.

“Argument For Love”-Inspired Reading to be Held at Rhode Island College

On Monday, April 12, Norma Humphrey will feature her late husband’s poems during a celebration of poetry at Rhode Island College in Providence. The nationally-acclaimed poet was a student at RIC during the mid-1970s and regularly gave popular campus poetry readings (often accompanied by his friend, noted folk singer/songwriter/artist Jay Bolotin). “Argument For Love,” a notable reading held November 23, 1974, will be Mrs. Humphrey’s inspiration for the evening. The celebration begins at 6pm in the Unity Center on campus. The event will also feature readings by other poets. Free food and beverages will be available.

Hear the poet read “There Are Words” from the recording Argument For Love.

A Humphrey Birthday Celebration

On Saturday, February 20th, the Warner Library in Tarrytown, New York, will host a James Humphrey Celebration. Reading from her late husband’s work, Norma Humphrey will celebrate what would have been the writer’s 71st birthday. The free program begins at 2pm and refreshments will be available. For more information visit the library online.

Painting to be Auctioned for Environmental Education Nonprofit

The James Humphrey Trust will donate the painting, “4th of July Aerial Fireworks” for a September 25th charity auction at the Beczak Environmental Education Center in Yonkers, NY. The fundraiser will raise money for the nonprofit organization which offers educational programs designed to teach people of all ages about the Hudson River and encourages them to become better stewards for nature. Inspired as he watched Independence Day fireworks illuminate the sky over the Hudson, Humphrey created the abstract painting in 2007. See more about the event here.

One Small Step for James Humphrey

The first lunar landing isn’t the only 40 year anniversary this week. An unpublished poem was recently re-discovered (along with several others) while listening to an archived recording from August 12, 1969, of Humphrey reading some of his early poems. Entitled, “Poem/Water,” it was written exactly 40 years ago this week. Within the short verse, Humphrey makes a slight political statement about NASA’s boys landing on the moon. You can hear it here.