Greetings, everyone. I came across a site with a biographical essay on Clark Ashton Smith entitled "The Sorcerer of Auburn" which contains the following paragraph:

Quote:

As for the romantic life of this "Last of the Great Romantics," Smith is said to have had many mistresses, including many married women between the years 1909 and at least 1930. It is also said that there was a special relationship that lasted many years but ended badly in the early 1950s.

The site is at this link: [alangullette.com]

Does anyone know what precisely this special relationship was that the author mentioned?

ArkhamMaid wrote:

> Greetings, everyone. I came across a site with a
> biographical essay on Clark Ashton Smith entitled
> "The Sorcerer of Auburn" which contains the
> following paragraph:
>
> As for the romantic life of this "Last of the
> Great Romantics," Smith is said to have had many
> mistresses, including many married women between
> the years 1909 and at least 1930. It is also said
> that there was a special relationship that lasted
> many years but ended badly in the early 1950s.
>
> The site is at this link:
> [alangullette.com]
>
> Does anyone know what precisely this special
> relationship was that the author mentioned?

Dr F might know, but sometimes things can't be discussed when they're still fairly close in time.

Alan was most likely referring to the relationship between CAS and Genevieve Sully. I don't really know any particulars about the supposed "bad ending" of this relationship, but I do know that Smith left Mrs. Sully a large cache of manuscripts and art which have been preserved by her family.

Scott and I try to focus our research on literary matters; while Smith's personal affairs may have some bearing on his writings, it was obviously his desire that such biographical details remain private. If you read "The Poet Speaks to the Biographers" included here in the poetry section, you will get a very good idea of how CAS felt about this!
-Ron

Quote:

Scott and I try to focus our research on literary matters; while Smith's personal affairs may have some bearing on his writings, it was obviously his desire that such biographical details remain private. If you read "The Poet Speaks to the Biographers" included here in the poetry section, you will get a very good idea of how CAS felt about this!

You're exactly right; that's part of the reason why I found this article slightly offensive, to be honest. I feel that a little too much interpretative lee-way is given to biographers oftentimes.

I've just re-read the poem mentioned earlier and discovered that I mis-quoted the title, "The Poet Talks with the Biographers" A very powerful statement written in a form similar to that of "Nyctalops."

The Poet Talks with the Biographers

O ghouls of fetid and funereal midnights,
Say, what do you uncover in your sad labors?
—We have disinterred the Empusa of thy fears
And the frightful Gorgon with her livid eyeballs
In our mournful labors.

O diggers all so diligent, O sapient ghouls,
What have you found in your prodigious toils?
—We have exhumed with all their antique evils
Thy loves, with features gutted by the worms,
In our enormous toils.

Grimed openers of pyramid and ossuary,
What revealed ye yesterday at crimson evening?
—We have dug up the black and ashen soil
To anatomize the shroudless nymph
Who was laid to sleep at evening.

Ghouls, what would ye do, tonight, for your pleasure,
Within these low, lugubrious and gaping tombs?
—We come to disenswathe the living dead—
The never-gelded fauns of thine old vices—
Within these gaping tombs.

Wherefore in such efforts, O Chaldean ghouls,
Whiten ye the earth with the salt of your sweat?
—Therein we find ineffable pleasures always:
Odors of the ripe dead, and ancient spices,
Embalsam our sweat.

dear friends - regret to have been so far from the site for so long - still slowly recovering the use of the right arm following "shoulder reversal" surgery where a device much like an old mustang gear shift is in the shoulder opposite to the direction of the normal socklet - strength being supplied as the muscled adhere to it - this in the absence of ligaments, tendons, and the rotator cuff itself -
As to Genevieve Sully - no Romance with Genevieve - she was substantially older, and, indeed, a supporter and benefactor (I knew the family very well indeed, as members of Arts community of Auburn in my days there - Her daughters, however, particularly Marion - high degree of probability, as she was well-known (biblically) to many artistic types - refer to my memoir -
she played violin in what passed for the SF symphony under (hmmm) Ernst Bacon - Indeed the last time I saw her was at Ernst's 90 birthday party. She still looked very good, and was still a lively old girl - liked her and her husband very much - remember all these folks were of the 20's and 30's Bohemian crowd - and clung together to keep the arts alive in the absence of funding that fell like a sword blow across all the performing arts in America.

calonlan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> dear friends - regret to have been so far from the
> site for so long - still slowly recovering the use
> of the right arm following "shoulder reversal"
> surgery where a device much like an old mustang
> gear shift is in the shoulder opposite to the
> direction of the normal socklet - strength being
> supplied as the muscled adhere to it - this in the
> absence of ligaments, tendons, and the rotator
> cuff itself -
>

Glad to see you back -- best wishes on your recovery....