Franz Douskey
Encyclopedia
Franz Douskey is an American
writer
. Between the late 1960s and the early 1980s, his work was published in nearly two hundred publications.
Douskey has lived in Memphis
, New Orleans, Tucson, and the West Indies. William M. Packard, editor of the New York Quarterly
, listed Franz Douskey as a contemporary influential writer http://www.nyqpoets.net/ along with James Dickey
and Robert Penn Warren
, with whom Douskey traveled from time to time (Read "Remembering James Dickey" in the New York Quarterly
61).
Douskey's version of the story of Chief Joseph
was published in 1980 (in the Inland Boat Series), a few years before Robert Penn Warren's Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce was published (1983). While living in Memphis, Douskey became friends with Sam Phillips
, the founder of Sun Records
, who became an early mentor. Douskey traveled extensively in the 1960s before settling in Tucson. It was there that he met poet Richard Shelton
, Edward Abbey
, William Eastlake, Raymond Carver
, and Charles Bukowski
.
Douskey and Bukowski carried on what has been described as a long, antagonistic relationship, which was refereed by William M. Packard, who published both Bukowski and Douskey in many issues of the New York Quarterly
.
In Tucson, in the Sixties, Douskey ran a "resistance-house" for draftees heading for Canada
, set up the Free University with Steve Mueller, and helped establish the Food Conspiracy
, before moving east to work with the Black Panther Party
. Because of Douskey's political activities and his nickname, "Duke", several Edward Abbey followers concluded that Douskey was Abbey's model for George Washington Hayduke in The Monkey Wrench Gang
.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Douskey lived in Cornish, New Hampshire
, near the equally reclusive J. D. Salinger
. When Douskey would run into tourists anxious to ferret out Salinger, he would misdirect the intruders down a series of dirt roads that led them away from Salinger's house into nearby towns.
In his works, Douskey originated numerous neologisms, including "factitious": the complex piling on of erroneous facts based on a false premise
(as in "We must go to war because there are weapons of mass destruction"); "fictoid": a brief lie hoping to pass as the truth (as in "I never had sex with that woman, Miss Lewinsky") the comically ponderous "irregardful", which is grammatically correct; and the astute observation that "Sequels never equal" (pg. 64 in The New Official Rules, edited by Paul Dickson
). He also contributed to The Howard Stern Show (WNBC), and to Emeril Live!
on the Food Network
.
Franz Douskey has read from his works at hundreds of venues, including the University of Georgia
, the Donnell Library (with F. D. Reeve), the Cronkite Graduate Center at Harvard
, Yale University
, Goddard College
, New York University
, in Albany, University of Arizona
, and the New School of Social Research, among others. Recordings of early readings with Allen Ginsberg
, who was a long-time friend and correspondent, are archived in the Ginsberg-Stanford University collection.
In recent years, Douskey has published very little. He taught Creative Writing
at Yale University
for five summers, until 2001. In 2006, Douskey served as president of IMPAC University, in Punta Gorda, Florida
. He also produced and co-hosted a weekly radio-show on WQUN
, at Quinnipiac University
in Hamden, Connecticut
, where he is rumored to currently reside.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
. Between the late 1960s and the early 1980s, his work was published in nearly two hundred publications.
Douskey has lived in Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, New Orleans, Tucson, and the West Indies. William M. Packard, editor of the New York Quarterly
New York Quarterly
The New York Quarterly is a popular contemporary American poetry magazine. Established by William M. Packard in 1969, Rolling Stone Magazine has called the NYQ "the most important poetry magazine in America."- History :...
, listed Franz Douskey as a contemporary influential writer http://www.nyqpoets.net/ along with James Dickey
James Dickey
James Lafayette Dickey was an American poet and novelist. He was appointed the eighteenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1966.-Early years:...
and Robert Penn Warren
Robert Penn Warren
Robert Penn Warren was an American poet, novelist, and literary critic and was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He founded the influential literary journal The Southern Review with Cleanth Brooks in 1935...
, with whom Douskey traveled from time to time (Read "Remembering James Dickey" in the New York Quarterly
New York Quarterly
The New York Quarterly is a popular contemporary American poetry magazine. Established by William M. Packard in 1969, Rolling Stone Magazine has called the NYQ "the most important poetry magazine in America."- History :...
61).
Douskey's version of the story of Chief Joseph
Chief Joseph
Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt, popularly known as Chief Joseph, or Young Joseph was the leader of the Wal-lam-wat-kain band of Nez Perce during General Oliver O. Howard's attempt to forcibly remove his band and the other "non-treaty" Nez Perce to a reservation in Idaho...
was published in 1980 (in the Inland Boat Series), a few years before Robert Penn Warren's Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce was published (1983). While living in Memphis, Douskey became friends with Sam Phillips
Sam Phillips
Samuel Cornelius Phillips , better known as Sam Phillips, was an American businessman, record executive, record producer and DJ who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s...
, the founder of Sun Records
Sun Records
Sun Records is a record label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27, 1952.Founded by Sam Phillips, Sun Records was known for giving notable musicians such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash...
, who became an early mentor. Douskey traveled extensively in the 1960s before settling in Tucson. It was there that he met poet Richard Shelton
Richard Shelton
Richard Shelton is an English actor and singer, best known to millions for playing the role of Dr Adam Forsythe on British television's daytime Soap Opera Emmerdale on ITV1...
, Edward Abbey
Edward Abbey
Edward Paul Abbey was an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views. His best-known works include the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, which has been cited as an inspiration by radical environmental...
, William Eastlake, Raymond Carver
Raymond Carver
Raymond Clevie Carver, Jr. was an American short story writer and poet. Carver is considered a major American writer of the late 20th century and also a major force in the revitalization of the short story in the 1980s....
, and Charles Bukowski
Charles Bukowski
Henry Charles Bukowski was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles...
.
Douskey and Bukowski carried on what has been described as a long, antagonistic relationship, which was refereed by William M. Packard, who published both Bukowski and Douskey in many issues of the New York Quarterly
New York Quarterly
The New York Quarterly is a popular contemporary American poetry magazine. Established by William M. Packard in 1969, Rolling Stone Magazine has called the NYQ "the most important poetry magazine in America."- History :...
.
In Tucson, in the Sixties, Douskey ran a "resistance-house" for draftees heading for Canada
Draft dodger
Draft evasion is a term that refers to an intentional failure to comply with the military conscription policies of the nation to which he or she is subject...
, set up the Free University with Steve Mueller, and helped establish the Food Conspiracy
Food Conspiracy
Food Conspiracy is a term applied to a movement begun in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1968 in which households pooled their resources to buy food in bulk from farmers and small wholesalers and distribute it cheaply. The name came to describe a loose network of autonomous collectives which shared...
, before moving east to work with the Black Panther Party
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
. Because of Douskey's political activities and his nickname, "Duke", several Edward Abbey followers concluded that Douskey was Abbey's model for George Washington Hayduke in The Monkey Wrench Gang
The Monkey Wrench Gang
The Monkey Wrench Gang is a novel written by American author Edward Abbey , published in 1975.Easily Abbey's most famous fiction work, the novel concerns the use of sabotage to protest environmentally damaging activities in the American Southwest, and was so influential that the term "monkeywrench"...
.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Douskey lived in Cornish, New Hampshire
Cornish, New Hampshire
Cornish is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,640 at the 2010 census. Cornish has three covered bridges. Each August, it is home to the Cornish Fair.-History:...
, near the equally reclusive J. D. Salinger
J. D. Salinger
Jerome David Salinger was an American author, best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, as well as his reclusive nature. His last original published work was in 1965; he gave his last interview in 1980....
. When Douskey would run into tourists anxious to ferret out Salinger, he would misdirect the intruders down a series of dirt roads that led them away from Salinger's house into nearby towns.
In his works, Douskey originated numerous neologisms, including "factitious": the complex piling on of erroneous facts based on a false premise
False premise
A false premise is an incorrect proposition that forms the basis of a logical syllogism. Since the premise is not correct, the conclusion drawn may be in error...
(as in "We must go to war because there are weapons of mass destruction"); "fictoid": a brief lie hoping to pass as the truth (as in "I never had sex with that woman, Miss Lewinsky") the comically ponderous "irregardful", which is grammatically correct; and the astute observation that "Sequels never equal" (pg. 64 in The New Official Rules, edited by Paul Dickson
Paul Dickson
For the football player of the same name see Paul Dickson .Paul Dickson is a freelance writer of more than 50 non-fiction books, mostly on American English language and popular culture. He has written many articles on a wide variety of subjects...
). He also contributed to The Howard Stern Show (WNBC), and to Emeril Live!
Emeril Live
Emeril Live is a program on The Cooking Channel hosted by Emeril Lagasse. It formerly aired on Food Network and Fine Living.Emeril Live features many of the same elements as Emeril's other program, Essence of Emeril, and often has a Creole theme...
on the Food Network
Food Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
.
Franz Douskey has read from his works at hundreds of venues, including the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
, the Donnell Library (with F. D. Reeve), the Cronkite Graduate Center at Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, Goddard College
Goddard College
Goddard College is a private, liberal arts college located in Plainfield, Vermont, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Goddard College currently operates on an intensive low-residency model...
, New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, in Albany, University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
, and the New School of Social Research, among others. Recordings of early readings with Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
, who was a long-time friend and correspondent, are archived in the Ginsberg-Stanford University collection.
In recent years, Douskey has published very little. He taught Creative Writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
for five summers, until 2001. In 2006, Douskey served as president of IMPAC University, in Punta Gorda, Florida
Punta Gorda, Florida
Punta Gorda is a city in Charlotte County, Florida, United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau estimates of 2007, the city had a population of 16,762. It is the county seat of Charlotte County and the only incorporated municipality in the county...
. He also produced and co-hosted a weekly radio-show on WQUN
WQUN
WQUN is a radio station licensed to serve Hamden, Connecticut. The station is owned by Quinnipiac University. It airs an Adult Standards music format....
, at Quinnipiac University
Quinnipiac University
Quinnipiac University is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational university located in Hamden, Connecticut, United States at the foot of Sleeping Giant State Park...
in Hamden, Connecticut
Hamden, Connecticut
Hamden is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant." Hamden is home to Quinnipiac University. The population was 58,180 according to the Census Bureau's 2005 estimates...
, where he is rumored to currently reside.
Publishers
- The NationThe NationThe Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
- The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
- The Georgia ReviewThe Georgia ReviewThe Georgia Review is an award-winning, nationally respected literary journal founded in 1947 that includes poetry, art, fiction, essays and reviews. It won the National Magazine Award for Fiction in 1986 and the National Magazine Award for Essay in 2007...
- Rolling StoneRolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
- Yankee Magazine
- Down EastDown East, The Magazine of MaineDown East, The Magazine of Maine, also known as Down East Magazine, is the principal general interest monthly magazine covering Maine, according to Ulrich's Periodical Directory...
- Denver QuarterlyDenver QuarterlyThe Denver Quarterly is a literary journal based at the University of Denver. Founded in 1966 by novelist John Williams.-Best American Short Stories:...
- The Minnesota ReviewThe Minnesota ReviewThe Minnesota Review is a literary and cultural studies journal which places a special emphasis on politically engaged criticism, fiction and poetry. Issues are often "themed," recent issues examining the nature of academic publishing, of academic celebrity and of "smart" working class kids'...
- Las Vegas Life
- The National Pastime
- New York QuarterlyNew York QuarterlyThe New York Quarterly is a popular contemporary American poetry magazine. Established by William M. Packard in 1969, Rolling Stone Magazine has called the NYQ "the most important poetry magazine in America."- History :...
- Chautauqua Review
- Chrysalis Reader
- Puerto Del Sol
- Callaloo
- Caprice
- American Literary Review
- Yellow SilkYellow SilkYellow Silk: Journal of Erotic Arts was a magazine founded by writer and editor Lily Pond and published quarterly from 1981 to 1996.-Anthologies:Works published in this magazine were anthologized in:...
- Puerto del Sol
- Baseball Hall of Shame (Simon & Schuster)
- Baseball Diamonds (Doubleday)
- CavalierCavalier (magazine)Cavalier is an American magazine that was launched by Fawcett Publications in 1952 and has continued for decades, eventually evolving into a Playboy-style men's magazine...
- Sports Collectors DigestSports Collectors DigestSports Collectors Digest is an American advertising weekly paper published at Iola, Wisconsin. The magazine provides an avenue through which sellers, traders and avid buyers of sports memorabilia may interact....
- GritGrit (newspaper)Grit is a magazine, formerly a weekly newspaper, popular in rural areas throughout the United States during much of the 20th century. It carried the subtitle America's Greatest Family Newspaper. In the early 1930s, it targeted small town and rural families with 14 pages plus a fiction supplement...
- University of Georgia PressUniversity of Georgia PressThe University of Georgia Press or UGA Press is a publishing house and is a member of the Association of American University Presses.Founded in 1938, the UGA Press is a division of the University of Georgia and is located on the campus in Athens, Georgia, USA...
and Inland Book Series - Arizona State UniversityArizona State UniversityArizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
External links
- http://www.franzdouskey.org Franz Douskey website with writing and photos
- Old And New Poetry by Franz Douskey at the blogBlogA blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
The Cool Justice Report. Link visited 2007-02-17.