Bob Kaufman facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bob Kaufman
Born	Robert Garnell Kaufman (1925-04-18)April 18, 1925 New Orleans, Louisiana U.S.
Died	January 12, 1986(1986-01-12) (aged 60) San Francisco, California U.S.
Occupation	Poet
Nationality	American
Years active	1958–1986
Spouses	Eileen Singe

Robert Garnell Kaufman (born April 18, 1925 – died January 12, 1986) was an American Beat poet. He was also a surrealist and a jazz performance artist. In France, where his poems were very popular, people called him the "black American Rimbaud."

Early Life and Learning

Bob Kaufman was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was the 10th of 13 children in his family. His grandfather on his father's side was a German Jew. His mother came from a Black Roman Catholic family in New Orleans.

When he was 18, Kaufman joined the United States Merchant Marine. This was a group of ships that carried goods. In the early 1940s, he left the Merchant Marine. He then briefly studied literature at New York's The New School for Social Research. In New York, he met other famous writers like William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. He also knew the photographer Robert Frank.

What Was Bob Kaufman's Career Like?

While in New York, Kaufman found ideas in the writings of many authors. These included Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, and Langston Hughes. He also loved the work of jazz musicians. He especially admired Charlie Parker, even naming his son after him.

In 1958, Kaufman moved to San Francisco's North Beach. He lived there for most of his life.

Kaufman often said he wanted people to forget him. He was a poet who mostly spoke his poems aloud. He usually did not write them down. His wife, Eileen, helped save many of his works. She wrote down his poems as he spoke them.

City Lights published some of Kaufman's poetry books. These included Abomunist Manifesto and Second April in 1959. Another book, Does the Secret Mind Whisper, came out in 1960. In 1981, he published The Ancient Rain: Poems 1956 to 1978. He sometimes wrote poems on old sacks or scraps of paper.

Here is a line from his poem "Jail Poems":

Sitting here writing things on paper

Instead of sticking the pencil into the air

Like many Beat writers, Kaufman became a Buddhist. In 1959, he helped start Beatitude magazine. He worked as an editor there. He also wrote poems that seemed to wish for his words to live forever.

From his poem "Dolorous Echo":

When I die

I won't stay

Dead.

The writer Raymond Foye said Kaufman created the word "beatnik". Kaufman's life was often difficult. In San Francisco, he faced harassment from the police. His time in New York included poverty and legal troubles. He was sometimes arrested just for reciting his poetry in public.

In 1959, Kaufman had a small part in a movie called The Flower Thief. It was filmed in North Beach. In 1960, he moved to New York City. He gave poetry readings at places like The Gaslight Café. He faced some health issues and was hospitalized. Later, he lived in the same building as Allen Ginsberg.

In 1961, Kaufman was nominated for England's Guinness Poetry Award. He lost to T. S. Eliot. In 1962, he had legal issues and was held in jail. While he was away, his wife Eileen and infant son Parker returned to San Francisco. In 1963, he was sent to a hospital for care. He took a vow of silence after John F. Kennedy was assassinated. This silence lasted for 10 years. He was filmed reading a poem in 1981. In the same year, he received a grant to help with his writing. He died in 1986 due to health problems.

Ken Kesey, another writer, once saw Bob Kaufman in San Francisco. He described Kaufman reciting poetry to cars on the street. Kesey felt it was a special use of the human voice and mind.

What Was Bob Kaufman's Poetry Like?

Kaufman's poetry often used the rhythm and style of jazz music. A critic named Raymond Foye said Kaufman was the "quintessential jazz poet." This means he was the perfect example of a jazz poet. He used jazz ideas and words in his poems.

Here is a part from his poem "Battle Report":

One thousand saxophones infiltrate the city

Each with a man inside,

Hidden in ordinary cases,

Labeled FRAGILE.

Poet Jack Micheline said Kaufman's work was like improvisation. This means it was often made up on the spot. He thought it was best when a jazz musician played along. Micheline also said Kaufman's poems were powerful and sometimes funny.

Kaufman described his own work this way: "My head is a bony guitar, strung with tongues, plucked by fingers & nails."

After the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Kaufman made a promise. He would not speak until the Vietnam War ended in 1973. He broke his silence by reading his poem "All Those Ships that Never Sailed." The first lines are:

All those ships that never sailed

The ones with their seacocks open

That were scuttled in their stalls...

Today I bring them back

Huge and intransitory

And let them sail

Forever

Some people see Kaufman's silence as a part of his poetry. It was a way for him to think about how we connect with the world.

Bob Kaufman's Family Life

In 1944, Kaufman married Ida Berrocal. They had a daughter named Antoinette Victoria Marie. She was born in New York City in 1945.

He married Eileen Singe in 1958. They had a son named Parker. Parker was named after the jazz musician Charlie Parker.

Bob Kaufman passed away in 1986 at the age of 60. He died in San Francisco from health issues.