So I was browsing around at some blogs I hadn’t visited before, when I came across a great post by Millie Ho.
She briefly but eloquently explores the age-old question of whether or not it is necessary to take risks in life — suffering the occasional bruise or broken heart — in order to be a good writer. And, as I pointed out in a comment I left, the masterstroke of her piece is the inclusion of a photo of a young Allen Ginsberg, one of the bravest of writers: raw, emotional, vulnerable, never pulled punches.
Anyway, as I thought about Millie’s post and about Allen, I remembered my post about Dylan in Woodstock, NY from Wednesday, how Dylan, as mentioned in the post, certainly embodies the artist as risk-taker, and then I remembered that Dylan and Ginsberg were good friends.
Since I haven’t posted a Video Fridays installment in a while, I immediately rushed to YouTube in hopes of finding a favorite clip of mine, a tiny snippet from Jerry Aronson’s 1993 documentary, The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg, wherein Dylan and Ginsberg visit the grave of another great risk-taking writer, Jack Kerouac, also longtime favorite of mine.
Fortunately, it was there, and, now, it’s here: