On the Disappearing of Joan Vollmer Burroughs. "After William Burroughs killed his wife Joan Vollmer, he threw away all her possessions."
https://lithub.com/on-the-disappearing-of-joan-vollmer-burroughs/
#writing #beats
Discussion
Archivists who write about their subjects have my deepest respect— what a tragedy— Joan Vollmer needs to be remembered for more than her death. Lessons from the past are so important— desire & drugs is a deadly combination. Her life sounded interesting— hope to hear more from Katie or others. I passed by a few Beats today at the bookstore— did not take any home. Thanks for sharing this story.
Burrough's legend has been covered with too much gold paint.
Yes — like many others. Truth is important—a cookie cutter devotion and/or perspective to larger than life personalities is not healthy.
I’ll make an honest confession: I’ve never read much of Burroughs— if any.
Joan’s life sounded so interesting— she was definitely more than a muse & did not deserve to be murdered.
I can say I have tried to read his stuff. A couple novels all the way through. Not sure I really got much from the text directly. I got more from his commentators and people inspired by him.
He is referenced a lot! Jack Spicer & Jack Gilbert are my favorite Beat related poets— although they aren’t necessarily classified as “Beats” — not Gilbert anyway who was from my hometown.