R.I.P. Larry Jaffe

Just read on Facebook about the passing away of Larry Jaffe. New Yorker, Californian and, of late, Floridian.  Larry, along with the late Donn Deedon, hosted the Poetic License readings in Pasadena/Hollywood (Melrose)/Los Feliz/Silverlake.

His raucous informality as host and poet/storyteller gathered a large following of poets in various stages of developing both writing craft and stage presence.  

This was a time when SoCal readings—populist and elevated—thrived.

By 2002, the L.A. scene began to crave formality and a tighter standard as to features (mostly limited to prestige small presses and MFA degree holders).  Larry, perhaps sensing this shift, began hosting a reading at the Autry Museum which, after an initial evening resembling the Poetic License of yore, became shorter and more subdued afterwards and limited in terms of features plus invited poets with less time allowed (no open readers as I recall).

If memory is correct, Larry did host a one-off reading at the Rainbow Grill at the Sunset Strip around 2004.  It was  more in the Poetic License tradition and the last time I encountered him in person.

I was never allowed into the inner circle of Poetic License (writing this now as a neutral observation), but I did like to go to its readings and made a few friends/acquaintances there.

Essentially, Larry, Donn, Midnight Special’s Olin Tezcatlipoca and Joan Zoric and Pasadena’s Don Kingfisher Campbell and Jack Bowman were quite influential on my ventures in this subculture between 1998-1999.  Regardless of how the later years turned out, I’m glad to have met and learned from them.

Current and former Los Angeles poets looking back at the previous decade.

1998 was the year I became active in Los Angeles poetry. It was a time when poetry readings came in a selection of rock-and-roll, hip-hop, folk-radical agitprop or chamber music. And, on occasion, readings could blend all of the above.

2008 is a year where Los Angeles poetry is mostly chamber music (with occasional exceptions such as Fairfax's Da Poetry Lounge and the Wednesday night readings at the Unurban Cafe) that can, at its soporific worst, remind one of the sound of water being poured into a glass.

Recently, the Onyx Cafe, an everyone-can-participate Los Feliz reading dead since 1998, staged a reunion at the Echoplex in Echo Park. A documentary film may surface someday of the reunion.

Ex-L.A. poet Larry Jaffe, who co-hosted Poetic License with the late Donn Deedon, was a beneficiary of the Onyx's legacy. Here's a link to his latest project--UNPROTECTED POETRY 10 YEARS AFTER: www.lgjaffe.com/unprotectedpoetry

Rick Lupert, a veteran of the local scene, has finally acted on a suggestion I (among others) made to him years ago and reissued his second book--I AM MY OWN ORANGE COUNTY--consisting of poetry written between 1990-97. More information on the book can be found here: http://poetrysuperhighway.com/iamooc.html

Reissues are all well and good for reminding the public of work done in the past. And 10th anniversary celebrations are a valuable opportunity for seeing now-mostly-retired poets make rare reappearances and for poetry hosts (such as Ron Dvorkin, who recently celebrated his 10th anniversary as host of the Barnes and Noble reading in Encino) to make note of their longevity in a changing scene.

After the celebrations are over, questions remain:
What kind of poetry scene will we be looking back on in 2018?
Inclusive or ultraexclusive?