Saturday, January 21, 2006

Henry Rollins On Henry Miller

"I read Henry Miller and I never wanted to sleep again."
---- Henry Rollins

In 1998, punk-rocker/writer/actor/spoken word performer Henry Rollins published an anthology called The Best of 2.13.61, in which appears excerpts of letters from Henry Miller to Brenda Venus.

Rollins began his life in the spotlight as a member of the California punk band Black Flag. During this period, he began his own small press, 2.13.61 Publications, as a means to distribute his own writings. Around this same time, fellow musician Lydia Lunch made a reading suggestion to Rollins:

ROLLINS: "[Lydia said] 'I think you’ll like this guy,' and I’d heard of Henry Miller, but I never had read him. And she gave me Black Spring, which I devoured and that book was hugely influential to me. And like I said before, I had never read anything that brave, and his bravery and his lust for life that comes through in the writing was just so strengthening to me. It just, I don’t know, really gave me a big shot in the arm.
(in an interview on themodernword.com)

In Rollins' 1994 memoir, Get In The Van: On The Road With Black Flag, a published diary excerpt from 1984 makes reference to this experience: "I read Black Spring by Henry Miller for a few hours today. This is the coolest book I have ever read." As the book progresses, we see Rollins grow into a big Miller fan, collecting his books from various cities while on tour.

In Black Coffee Blues, (1997) Rollins described Miller's place in his daily life during these years: "I rarely went on the road without one of Miller's books in my backpack. A man I never met kept me company and became my traveling companion and friend."

Years later, he was visiting his mother's house and "I pulled off The Smile at the Foot of the Ladder by Henry Miller from her shelf. I was a big Henry Miller fan, but never had seen this edition. She said, 'I bought this from him at an art opening.' I said, 'Mom, you met Henry Miller?' She said, 'Yeah, and he hit me up for money.' " (Cincinnati CityBeat - Jan 19, 2005.)

While putting together a collection of writings for Best of 2.13.61, Rollins was made aware that the publishing rights to Dear, Dear Brenda--the collection of Miller letters to his young girlfriend, Brenda Venus--were coming up for option (the son of the original publisher was also a friend of Rollins). Here's how Rollins tells it in his Modern Word interview:

"[My friend] says, 'Well, you’re going to have to talk to Brenda.' I said, 'Okay,' and I had a meeting with Brenda, and she was incredibly cool – we’re still friends. I said, 'Let’s do this. But let’s make it unique. Let’s do something different with the book, let’s go through some of Miller’s letters and let’s see if we can add something to the book to make it different than the previous version.'

"So I went to her house one day, and had this amazing afternoon of going through six-inch thick file boxes of letters, written in like a flair pen on a legal pad. It was incredible. In one of them – she was an aspiring actress – she said, “I’m trying to get you a meeting with Coppola, but he’s in the jungle shooting some movie with Marlon Brando.” Like, oh my God! And that letter went in the book."

This interview was conducted in November 2005. But this story of easy acquision sounds quite different from the press conference Rollins gave in Toronto in 1996, two years before he re-printed the Venus letters.

"All of a sudden Brenda Venus called up and went "You don't own the rights to that book. I own the rights to that book." So Josh [Sindell] called me up and said "Ummm... I don't own those rights anymore. I just out. I got a very angry call from Brenda. Ummm... Here's Brenda's number if you want to talk to her." I called up Brenda. Went and had lunch with her. Brought her to my house. Showed her my Henry Miller collection. She said "My, you really like Henry don't you?" I went "Yeah man, he's the man." "Well you love Henry Miller so much, and you're an exceptional young man. I think it'd be wonderful to have Henry's book come out on your label."

And so we did it. And I went through the letters with her. There's 1400 letters of histhat she has. And she threw about five inches of them in my lap one day at her apartment.. Ijust went through these letters. And we found another twenty, thirty pages of stuff to put at theend of the book. So there's unreleased Miller stuff in this new edition. So that was lucky."

Still a happy ending, but probably much more accurate.

The photograph of Rollins with the microphone was taken by Steven Sandick. I found no credits for the other photos. The Rollins Toronto press conference was originally transcribed by Steve Wicary.

9 Comments:

Blogger Blue Collared Snob said...

Henry Rollins was the man that put me onto Miller in the mid-90's. I was in my early 20's trolling for interesting books and Rollins mentions Miller so many times that I just bit and bought Tropic of Cancer and have been hooked ever since.

5:48 pm  
Blogger mmjiaxin said...

true religion jeans
adidas outlet
giuseppe zanotti outlet
wedding dresses uk
beats by dre
oakley sunglasses
tory burch sale
fred perry polo shirts
ugg boots uk
michael kors canada
barbour jackets
true religion jeans
ugg boots outlet,ugg outlet
louis vuitton handbags outlet
nike trainers
nike free uk
ray-ban sunglasses
canada goose outlet
vans shoes
true religion outlet uk
mm1223

8:46 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

ninest123 16.03
burberry outlet, longchamp outlet, burberry factory outlet, ray ban sunglasses, cheap oakley sunglasses, michael kors handbags, replica watches, louis vuitton outlet, ralph lauren outlet, uggs on sale, prada handbags, louis vuitton outlet online, uggs on sale, christian louboutin, nike free, nike air max, oakley sunglasses, nike air max, oakley sunglasses, ralph lauren polo, christian louboutin, ray ban sunglasses, nike outlet, tiffany jewelry, tiffany jewelry, oakley sunglasses, michael kors outlet online, longchamp bags, michael kors outlet online, louboutin shoes, louboutin uk, prada outlet, uggs outlet, uggs on sale, ray ban sunglasses, michael kors outlet online, tory burch outlet, uggs outlet, gucci handbags, louis vuitton, longchamp outlet, cheap jordans, michael kors outlet, louis vuitton handbags, replica watches, oakley sunglasses, michael kors, louis vuitton outlet

10:29 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

nike blazer pas cher, nike air max uk, polo ralph lauren uk, new balance, ralph lauren pas cher, michael kors, lululemon outlet, jordan pas cher, sac guess pas cher, nike free, burberry pas cher, michael kors uk, nike roshe run pas cher, hermes pas cher, coach outlet store online, coach purses, true religion outlet, replica handbags, north face uk, hogan sito ufficiale, timberland pas cher, north face pas cher, longchamp pas cher, true religion outlet, louboutin pas cher, polo lacoste pas cher, nike air max pas cher, nike air max, mulberry uk, hollister uk, ray ban uk, vanessa bruno pas cher, nike trainers uk, nike air force, lunette oakley pas cher, vans pas cher, michael kors, abercrombie and fitch UK, nike tn pas cher, longchamp soldes, lunette ray ban pas cher, converse, nike air max uk, nike free pas cher, abercrombie and fitch, true religion jeans, michael kors outlet online, nike roshe uk, true religion outlet

10:31 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

ugg,ugg australia,ugg italia, karen millen uk, hollister, pandora jewelry, thomas sabo uk, ugg,uggs,uggs canada, canada goose jackets, pandora uk, canada goose uk, canada goose, canada goose pas cher, ugg uk, sac louis vuitton, canada goose, swarovski uk, swarovski jewelry, canada goose outlet, ray ban, replica watches, louis vuitton, louis vuitton, moncler, canada goose jackets, moncler jackets, pandora jewelry, links of london uk, marc jacobs, barbour jackets uk, moncler outlet, converse shoes outlet, canada goose outlet, coach outlet, ugg pas cher, juicy couture outlet, moncler uk, lancel, moncler, wedding dresses uk, barbour, louis vuitton uk, toms shoes, moncler, bottes ugg pas cher, sac louis vuitton, pandora charms, juicy couture outlet, moncler, moncler pas cher, montre pas cher, supra shoes
ninest123 16.03

10:36 pm  
Blogger Unknown said...

carolina panthers jersey
san antonio spurs
jaguars jersey
miami dolphins jerseys
oklahoma city thunder jersey
hollister canada
supra shoes sale

tommy hilfiger uk
new york giants jersey
new york giants jerseys
los angeles lakers jerseys
mac cosmetics
tommy hilfiger
ravens jerseys
boston celtics
steelers jerseys
cardinals jersey
green bay packers jersey
cleveland cavaliers jerseys
kansas city chiefs jerseys
seattle seahawks jersey
jordan 13
cleveland cavaliers
bengals jersey
puma shoes
oakland raiders jerseys
new balance shoes
los angeles clippers
49ers jersey
salomon shoes sale
chicago blackhawks
ysl outlet online
oklahoma city thunder
indianapolis colts jersey
czq20160704

4:52 am  
Blogger Unknown said...

rolex watches
ray-ban sunglasses
air jordan 4
hermes belt
instyler ionic styler
tiffany jewelry
mulberry handbags
ugg outlet
ugg uk
louis vuitton
chanyuan11.19

7:52 am  
Blogger Unknown said...

polo ralph lauren
steelers jerseys
coach factory outlet
coach outlet store
miami heat jersey
fitflops
replica watches
michael kors outlet
kobe 9
under armour outlet
20170407

11:36 pm  
Blogger yanmaneee said...

christian louboutin shoes
adidas nmd
retro jordans
harden shoes
kobe shoes
golden goose
michael kors outlet
nike cortez
hermes belt
michael kors outlet online

11:06 pm  

Post a Comment

<< Home