Today we are sad to share news that poet, biographer, and memoirist Neeli Cherkovski passed away on March 19th at the age of 78. His death was announced by Garrett Caples on the City Lights Booksellers blog — a fitting tribute given his long, loving association with San Francisco. I was particularly struck by his summation of Cherkovski's dedication to poetry itself and its broader communities. While he was "occasionally exasperating, needy, desperate to be read and loved," Caples notes, "he was no less desperate for the poets he loved to be read and loved, and he loved a lot of poets." He continues:
And by this I mean not his pantheon or his peers, but generations of younger poets, whom he read with a discerning eye. Perpetually curious and voracious as a reader, he kept up with new poets to his dying day. There are poets who want to lord what they have over you and poets who want to share what they have with everyone they esteem, and Neeli was firmly in the latter camp. I don’t know how he kept up with so many poets, and I’m almost 30 years younger. It takes a generosity and largeness of spirit few possess and poets like Neeli are valuable for the continuity they impart to the vast and everchanging ocean that is poetry.
On PennSound's Neeli Cherkovski author page, you'll find a couple of vintage recordings from the poet — including a 1969 reading with Charles Bukowski and a 1980 set from San Francisco's Caffe Malvina — along with a number of videos from the last 15 years or so. These include readings, talks, conversations, and interviews and provide a wonderful sense of Cherkovski's diverse talents. We send our condolences to the poet's friends and fans worldwide.
