| In 1986, I corresponded briefly with Samuel Beckett at the urging of theFrench
bilingual poet and writer Raymond Federman, an early biographer and long-time
friend of the Irish playwright. I had sent to Paris my lithograph of Beckett "Double Beckett," and wanted to share with him photos of the series of drawings and pastels I did of him earlier. The latter would, as it subsequently developed, figure in a 1990 memorial exhibition and reading at Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center. That same year, I watched Chris O'Neill, the transplanted Dublin actor widely known to Buffalo audiences, give a dramatic reading on WNED-TV of Beckett's last prose piece "Stirrings Still." As I recall, in the early 1980's"Rockaby," with the actress Billie Whitelaw, was premiered in Buffalo. It centered around a memorable symposium with the late Alan Schneider, Federman, and other notables in attendance. Later on, I met Jim Knowlson, director of Beckett International Foundation at Reading University. Jim was brought to my studio by Robert Bertholf, State University of New York at Buffalo curator of Poetry and Rare Books. Recently, Jim and I traded letters after "Damned to Fame: the Life of Samuel Beckett" was published to rave reviews. Then, about three years ago, another Beckett conference convened here and, typically, I recorded in my sketchbooks the visiting scholars and events thus created. Finally, it should be noted that Ray Federman's enthusiasm rekindled my interest in Beckett and the artworks that followed are largely due to his gentle prodding. This modest group of solvent-transfer image composites ("Beckett Fragments" I call them) advance my ongoing obsession with the writer and his work. Buffalo, New York October 1, 1997 |