JIM CARROLL RECITING "8 FRAGMENTS FOR KURT COBAIN" ON MTV'S SPOKEN WORD UNPLUGGED

~IN MEMORY OF JIM CARROLL~ "I am posting this briefly as a Memorial to the great Poet and Writer Jim Carroll that was a personal friend/acquaintance/inspiration. When I first met Jim Carroll backstage at the New Year's Poetry Marathon at St. Marks Poetry Project (in 1995?) he looked similar to what he looks like in this video and he was wearing the same beret hat. As we were chatting I mentioned to him that Alex Colletti and MTV Unpugged were porducing spoken word shows. Jim Carroll wasn't aware of that and I thought he would be perfect for that show and I had Colletti's telephone number in my pocket so I gave it to him. I'm not sure if Jim Carroll called Alex Colletti or one of his people did or from this awareness of the new show his people approached MTV in another way but shortly after that he was featured on this show. I am sharing all this because this was the last episode of this show that was ever filmed and Kurt Cobain committed suicide just prior to the taping. There were a lot of imititation suicides beginning to happen by young teenagers and I feel that Jim Carroll's quickly written, timely, sensitive brilliant, passionate, anti-suicide poem helped save many lives. I have talked with many teenagers and people in their twenty's at that time who were in despair that this poem touched very deeply and helped them get through a tough desparate moment in their lives. They connected with Carroll's lines about how Cobain could have seen Bellini's great art ain Italy and other things he still should have done. I don't have the copyright for this but I don't see this on the internet anywhere and this is how I remember Jim Carroll the most in this shining moment of compassion, intelligence and illumination. God bless you Jim on your journey home into eternity," NY Poet Billy Lamont

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Jim Carroll
• Memorial
• Poet
• Writer
• Jim Carroll Band
• MTV Spoken Word Unpugged

[sage777billy]

hey kennedy 13: it's funny, i wrote a poem for jim carroll shortly after he passed on based on his poem for kurt cobain. it is called "7 reflections for jim carroll." [poet billy lamont]

[stoweman22]

amazing R.I.P. kurt and jim

[llkennedy13]

who's gonna write a poem about Jim Carrol?

[heartshapednirvana]

I never knew there was an unplugged for poets.

[Disordervore]

While I do love the poem, I don't agree at all that Kurt killed himself. Kurt was murdered.

[wangobangodango]

JIM CARROL DIED SO THAT DICK CHENEY COULD LIVE.

[ayyygrl]

this is beautiful. jim carroll never fails to speak pure and beautiful words

[cookzeno]

@llkennedy13 I hope to try when the pain is still so new. jcook1031

[psychoholik007]

Puma Perl and Cyndi Dawson both wrote one about jim. It is on the outsider writers blog. in the archives...

[SlowDown101]

Jim's journals made me laugh

Jim's poems could make me smile or cry

Jim's poems above all

Never

Lied...

[lackofspeed]

Quite astonishing. Beauty itself.