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Talk of Ginsberg memorial polarizes [Classified Ads]
[Today's News]Paterson officials
Home Page
Monday, April 7, 1997
Top
Stories By JUSTO BAUTISTA
News Staff Writer
Briefs PATERSON -- Several city officials said
The Region Sunday that a memorial to one of
Paterson's most famous sons -- the poet
Business Allen Ginsberg, who died over the
weekend of a heart attack in New York
The Wire -- would only be fitting.
Columnists
But Councilman Thomas C. Rooney Jr.
said it would be an outrage, accusing
Obituaries Ginsberg of turning a whole generation
of young people on to drugs.
Education
"He's a great poet, fine, but what else
Campaign did he do?" said Rooney, alluding to
Central Ginsberg's open use of marijuana and
LSD.
[Your Town] "I hold him accountable, with the
Chicago 7 -- the whole pack of them, to
[Sports News] a large extent -- for the trouble we
have in the country today .Ê.Ê. the
lack of respect for authority, the drug
[Opinion] thing," said Rooney, adding that he
would oppose any tribute.
[Special Reports]
Ginsberg, whose trail-blazing 1950s
poem "Howl" dealt with his
[Interact withhomosexuality and communist upbringing
in Paterson, died Saturday in his Lower
East Side apartment, just days after he
was diagnosed with liver cancer. He was
70.
Poet Maria Mazziotti Gillan, director
of the Poetry Center at Passaic County
Community College in Paterson, said
Sunday she wants to plan a tribute,
preferably at Ginsberg's beloved Great
Falls, which would include poetry
readings and reminiscences by poets and
others who knew Ginsberg.
The program, she said, would be
broadcast over the local cable-TV
channel.
Ê"It would be fun and something
wonderful to do at the falls," Gillan Ê
said. "I'd love it if they would rename
a street after him."
Ginsberg was unwelcome in Paterson in
the 1970s, after a warrant was issued
for his arrest for smoking marijuana
near the Great Falls. "They threw him
out of the city 25 years ago, but
Pascrell [former Mayor William J.
Pascrell Jr.] welcomed him back,"
Gillan said.
Ginsberg returned to the city several
times to read poetry, most recently in
May, when he read at the Poetry
Marathon at the Paterson Museum. More
than 300 people attended.
Councilman Jose Torres, who oversees
the library and museum committee, said
a tribute to Ginsberg "definitely
warrants discussion" at Tuesday's
council meeting.
Torres said a committee of residents
may be formed to coordinate any
memorial.
"The importance is that the sentiment
of the community, the public, be
recognized," Torres said, "and out of
that there should be an appropriate
memorial established.
"It is just unfortunate that many times
we want to pay tribute to those who
have done great things when they pass,"
Torres said. "We need to pay tribute
when they are with us."
Councilman Donald Hayden said he would
discuss any tribute Tuesday. "He did
put Paterson on the map," Hayden said.
"He was very controversial, that's for
sure."
Rooney said not to count on him for any
help. "Ginsberg and his crowd," said
the councilman, "are one of the main
reasons why young people in America are
on drugs and have had their lives
ruined. It troubles me that intelligent
people want to honor somebody who did
so much harm."
Copyright © 1997 Bergen Record Corp.
[The Record On[Your Town News]
Tribute to Ginsberg planned in Paterson [Classified Ads]
[Today's News]
Home Page Wednesday, April 9, 1997
Top By MICHAEL CASEY
Stories Staff Writer
News
PATERSON -- Allen Ginsberg may have
Briefs traveled the world reading his poems
The Region and talking revolution, but he always
had a place in his heart for the city
Business where he was raised.
The Wire To honor this commitment, officials of
Columnists the Poetry Center of Passaic County
Community College said they will hold a
memorial on June 8 for Ginsberg, who
Obituaries had liver cancer and died Saturday in
New York of a heart attack. It will be
Education at the Great Falls or, if it rains, the
Paterson Museum.
Campaign
Central "I think it's a nice thing to do and is
something that could honor how he has
been so supportive of the poetry
[Your Town] center," said Maria Mazziotti Gillan, a
poet and director of the center in
[Sports News] Paterson, which sponsors the Allen
Ginsberg Awards, attracting poets from
around the world.
[Opinion]
Gillan said she plans to have readings
[Special Reporfrom local and national poets. She said
there may be an exhibition featuring
books of Ginsberg poetry and photos --
[Interact withmany from the times he has visited the
city or read at the center.
Suggestions for the memorial have been
welcomed by most City Council members,
especially Councilman Jose "Joey"
Torres, who said he plans to discuss
the idea with other community leaders.
Mayor Martin G. Barnes, who called for
the flag in front of City Hall to be
lowered to half-staff on Monday, said
Ginsberg deserves to be honored for his
Êlifetime achievements.
Ê
"He's given so much to the city," the
mayor said.
But the most socially conservative
member, Councilman Thomas C. Rooney
Jr., said at a council meeting Tuesday
night that he continues to oppose any
tribute to a man he credits with
fueling disrespect for authority and a
blooming of the "drug thing."
During the meeting, Rooney called for
an investigation into whether Ginsberg
was a member of an association that
promotes sex between men and boys.
The councilman also screamed that he
wanted the flag at full staff again.
Gillan said a tribute was well
deserved, since Paterson played such an
important role in Ginsberg's poetry.
She said he wrote about his experiences
at Eastside High School and the deaths
of his parents. His trailblazing poem
"Howl" dealt with Ginsberg's
homosexuality and Communist upbringing
in Paterson.
"I think he had a lot of memories of
this place," Gillan said. "Wherever you
grow up, you have a strong emotional
bond to that place. When he writes
about the past, growing up here, and
about his relatives who lived here, he
called on tremendously charged details
of Paterson."
Ginsberg was unwelcome in Paterson in
the 1970s, after a warrant was issued
for his arrest for smoking marijuana
near the Great Falls. But Ginsberg
returned to the city several times
after that to read poetry, most
recently in May when he read at the
Poetry Marathon at the Paterson Museum.
More than 300 people attended.
Copyright © 1997 Bergen Record Corp.