Comments on: The Avi Boxer Archive

By: doug winspear

doug winspear — Tue, 04 May 2010 04:22:10 +0000

I’ll have to admit that I personally, was separated by by both time and space from the Montreal poet scene in the fifties, coming from the lower 48, and it was more the beat poetry scene-Ginsberg, Ferlenghetti, Kerouac, Corso and such, which brings me back to that reference to the “beast” in man and woman. I guess that would be “beat” but with an s added. But the beat scene was connected to Bop and post Bop, or Killer Bee Bop, and in high school I’d rigged up this “beat pad”, in what had been a hay loft in the barn in back, until it didn’t pay to make hay anymore. And we had chianti bottle candles, and drank wine and smoked tea, and beat on our bongos doing free jazz word riffs, thinking we were so cool, but not knowing about the Beast that was lurking out there, like some Freudian Id monster turned werewolf lurking under the icicles dripping from the mountain next to the Royal Victoria where Dr. Ewing McFrankenstein was wigging out bored houswives from the burbs with acid and white noise.
Now if we can avoid Freud and have fun with Jung and try to tame the beast, make a good citizen out of him, so he can pay taxes, send faxes, and sharpen axes, we may be on the way to Mandalay where beasts dress like sheep and the Queen is Little Bo Peep.

By: Helen Wendy Rosenbaum

Helen Wendy Rosenbaum — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:14:29 +0000

I witnessed his ‘dark’ side too, his violent temper tantrums, but it was never directed at me. He really did like me as an individual. The affection was mutual. I am a poet, I have written about the beast in man and woman,among many other topics, Avi was the inspiration of much. I write about anything that inspires me. He was passionate about things he could not change

By: Helen Wendy Rosenbaum

Helen Wendy Rosenbaum — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 05:30:28 +0000

I was a close friend (lover too) of Avi in Montreal in the early 60′s. We were in some same psych classes at Sir George Williams University. I was lonely, a new immigrant to Canada and was delighted to so quickly found soul mates, ie Avi, Neima (Asch) and her husband Shimon et al. We spent wonderful weekends at his cottage in Val Morin.
I loved Avi passionately and completely but…I was married with a young son… therein lies another chapter. Not being willing to bite the hand that was feeding me. (My husbands position at the time made him very vulnerable to embarassment that could affect his newly appointed position on faculty) . I was happy to have a whole summer of love with Avi and his adorable stutter.. I will never forget him. He is a beautiful memory that keeps on giving. Now he gives great pleasure in my dotage.