Andrew Epstein on JA, grace a Geoffrey O'Brien.
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This past Sunday, September 4, brought the very sad news that John Ashbery had passed away at the age of 90. Ashbery is generally regarded as the greatest and most influential living American poet, so it is not surprising that the last few days have seen an outpouring of grief and praise from all corners of the literary community, and a slew of fine obituariesand tributes (I’ve collected many of these below). To accompany their obituary, the New York Times also asked me to suggest a few favorite shorter poems to accompany their obituary for Ashbery, which you can see here.
Even though he had just turned 90 in July, it somehow felt as if Ashbery would always be here, like crazy weather (“falling forward one minute, lying down the next”) – churning out a new book every year or two, exhibiting his wonderful collages, blurbing younger poets, generally filling the air of contemporary poetry with his brilliant presence. So his loss still came as a shock, a sharp blow, despite his extraordinary, long career and full life.
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Clidk here for the rest of Andrew's loving piece. -- DL
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