Re: Details of Clark Ashton Smith's life.
Posted by:
calonlan (IP Logged)
Date: 20 July, 2009 09:13AM
Knygatin Wrote:
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> Dr. Farmer provides more colorful details from
> Clark's life. I enjoy it very much. This thread is
> almost turning into a publishable biography!
> (I know I was ironic in another thread about
> writing biographies, and making career out of
> being critic and analyzer of others. But for me
> there is a fine line, I sense immediately when
> there is disrespect and lack of integrity, when
> initial enthusiasm has turned into routine, and a
> famous star is utilized merely as an object and
> merchandize for the biographer to cash in on.
> Farmer writes out of love, as if to a friend still
> being present. Well, almost; Some, like me, may
> think that Clark would have smacked him on the
> fingers, or told him to close the camera lens, for
> minor details, like activities in the outhouse.
> But knowing now, how thoroughly a practical man
> Clark was, I am likely wrong. It is certainly not
> disrespectful, in any case. Some carnal
> embarrassments loose all meaning beyond the grave.
> While other more important issues may painfully
> remain.)
>
> Although I prefer reading poems at my own pace, it
> is fascinating listening to Clark's readings of
> his own verse. It cannot be compared to the
> phenomenal Brother Theodore's reading of Smith,
> but then Clark was not an actor. (This is also why
> I asked if Clark spontaneously broke out in song,
> wondering how extrovert he was; or if his
> creativity stayed quietly on the inside). But you
> sense a tremendous force, and passion in his
> voice. And the sad undertone. And humour. Clearly
> a man of authority.
>
>
>
> calonlan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> -- Clark rarely spoke of
> > his past sorrows, but had about him a kind of
> > eternal melancholy that was the stage upon
> which
> > he lived his drama of life -
>
> This can be the case with an only child. I have
> known a few (also born under Capricorn). Being the
> only child, often leads to intense, if not
> lifelong search to compensate for the sense of
> loneliness, in one manner or another.
> And to further increase this, the Smith family
> lived pretty isolated.
>
>
> When reading a story like The Dark Eidolon, I have
> often wondered where this ability to express such
> incredible aggression and grim revenge stems from
> in Clark. It's so obsessive. I wonder if someone
> hurt him really bad. Or looking at his early
> school photo, there are one or two potential
> bullies, that I imagine could have forced him to
> crawl in the dust between lessons.
Re the "bully's" in the photo: It is far more likely that the teacher/photographer placed them on either side of Clark to (A) keep him still, and (B) to part him from the girls. He was not troubled by the other boys, but was more of a ringleader in mischief in the beginning days of school - the knothole in the girl's outhouse wall, away from the school, and its surreptitious use (and the introduction to the other curious youth of its many delights) was accomplished by our young hero -- his leaving school was a factor of his having left the others so far behind -- they were still doing "See Dick Run..." when Clark was reading the "Song of Roland" in translation -- his mischievous nature at school -- and, his terrible coughing fits in the early morning when the wood stove in the school was first being fired up (a task that was the older boys' responsibility) -- For those who do not know about wood stoves or fireplaces, it is often necessary to light some newspaper and hold them inside the flue to heat the chimney (whether brick or metal) so that the air will draw out -- failure to do this will commonly end with the room full of smoke until the flue heats enough to begin to pull the air upward - the pot-bellied stove in the school was notorious for this problem since the metal door was not air-tight - schools could not affort the Franklin Stove which had either iron or glass doors and had a superior drafting system. Ah, the rustic life -
At Clark's cabin, the wood cook stove provided the heat for the whole place - its principal drawback was the need to keep it stoked, and it only held small pieces of wood no larger than 2 inches in diameter, whereas the pot belly could hold short but very thick pieces to bank the fire once it got going. Coal was not an option in rural California, which is too bad since it is a very superior stove fuel - I grew up with it.