Judson Crews
Encyclopedia
Judson Crews was an American poet, bookseller and small press publisher.
Crews was born and raised in Waco, Texas
. He first opened his Motive Bookshop and issued his first Motive Press publications in Waco. In 1947 he moved both concerns to Taos, New Mexico
and married Taos photographer Mildred Tolbert. In addition to writing poetry, his activities in Taos over several decades included editing the poetry magazines Suck-egg Mule, The Deer and Dachshund, The Flying Fish, Motive, Vers Libre, Poetry Taos and The Naked Ear (which published poetry by Robert Creeley
, Charles Bukowski
, Stuart Z. Perkoff, Vincent Ferrini
, Larry Eigner
, LeRoi Jones, Jack Anderson and Diane Di Prima
, among others); and issuing chapbooks of his own poetry and poetry by his friends Wendell Anderson and Carol Bergé
. Crews was a frequent contributor to Poetry Magazine, among many other literary journals. Besides operating his bookshop and press, he worked in newspaper production, as a teacher (including as a lecturer at the University of Zambia, 1974–1978), and as a social worker and counselor, until his retirement. He died on May 17, 2010 in Taos, NM and is buried in Tres Orejas, NM.
His daughters are artist and author Carole Crews, and photographer Anna Bush Crews.
Crews wrote and published under a number of pseudonyms, including Cerise Farallon, Willard Emory Betis, Trumbull Drachler, Tobi Macadams and Charley John Greasybear. Although he denied it, many in his literary circle believe that "Mason Jordan Mason"--a widely published and anthologized African American poet of the 1950s and 60s, recognized by the likes of Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) and Langston Hughes—was another of Crews's carefully constructed literary personae.
A long-time proponent of the work of his friend Henry Miller
(a reprint of Miller's Maurizius Forever was one of Motive Press's earliest publications), Crews was a lifelong activist against censorship in publishing. Much of his own output as an independent, small press publisher consisted of short-run, inexpensively produced literary chapbooks and magazines, making him a notable figure in the 1960s-70s movement known as the Mimeo Revolution.
No is the Night (Taos, NM, 1949)
Patrocinio Barela, Taos Wood Carver (with Wendell B. Anderson and Mildred Crews, Taos, NM, 1955)
Inwade to Briney Garth (Taos, NM, 1960)
A Unicorn When Needs Be (Taos, NM, 1963)
Selected Poems (Cleveland, OH, 1964)
Three on a Match (with Wendell B. Anderson and "Cerise Farallon," Taos, NM, 1966)
Nolo Contendere (Houston, TX, 1978)
Songs (as "Charley John Greasybear," Boise, ID, 1979)
The Noose, A Retrospective: 4 Decades (Duende/Tooth of Time, Placitas, NM, 1980)
The Clock of Moss (Boise, ID, 1983)
Against All Wounds (Parkdale, OR, 1987)
Dolores Herrera/Nations and Peoples (Las Cruces, NM, 1991)
The Brave Wild Coast: A Year with Henry Miller (Los Angeles, 1997)
Crews was born and raised in Waco, Texas
Waco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
. He first opened his Motive Bookshop and issued his first Motive Press publications in Waco. In 1947 he moved both concerns to Taos, New Mexico
Taos, New Mexico
Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico, incorporated in 1934. As of the 2000 census, its population was 4,700. Other nearby communities include Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, and El Prado. The town is close to Taos Pueblo, the Native American...
and married Taos photographer Mildred Tolbert. In addition to writing poetry, his activities in Taos over several decades included editing the poetry magazines Suck-egg Mule, The Deer and Dachshund, The Flying Fish, Motive, Vers Libre, Poetry Taos and The Naked Ear (which published poetry by Robert Creeley
Robert Creeley
Robert Creeley was an American poet and author of more than sixty books. He is usually associated with the Black Mountain poets, though his verse aesthetic diverged from that school's. He was close with Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Allen Ginsberg, John Wieners and Ed Dorn. He served as the Samuel P...
, 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...
, Stuart Z. Perkoff, Vincent Ferrini
Vincent Ferrini
Vincent Ferrini , age 94, was an American writer and poet from Gloucester, Massachusetts.-Early life:Vincent Ferrini was born in Saugus, Massachusetts on June 24, 1913. Vincent's parents emigrated from Riano and Bella, Italy in the province of Abruzzi to work in the shoe factories of Lynn,...
, Larry Eigner
Larry Eigner
Laurence Joel Eigner / Larry Eigner was an American poet of the second half of the twentieth century and one of the principal figures of the Black Mountain School....
, LeRoi Jones, Jack Anderson and Diane Di Prima
Diane di Prima
Diane Di Prima is an American poet.-Early life:Di Prima was born in Brooklyn. She attended Hunter College High School and Swarthmore College before dropping out to be a poet in Manhattan...
, among others); and issuing chapbooks of his own poetry and poetry by his friends Wendell Anderson and Carol Bergé
Carol Bergé
-Life:She was a native of New York City and studied at New York University and the New School for Social Research .She taught at Goddard College; the University of Southern Mississippi, where she edited the Mississippi Review; the University of New Mexico; and Wright State University.She was a...
. Crews was a frequent contributor to Poetry Magazine, among many other literary journals. Besides operating his bookshop and press, he worked in newspaper production, as a teacher (including as a lecturer at the University of Zambia, 1974–1978), and as a social worker and counselor, until his retirement. He died on May 17, 2010 in Taos, NM and is buried in Tres Orejas, NM.
His daughters are artist and author Carole Crews, and photographer Anna Bush Crews.
Crews wrote and published under a number of pseudonyms, including Cerise Farallon, Willard Emory Betis, Trumbull Drachler, Tobi Macadams and Charley John Greasybear. Although he denied it, many in his literary circle believe that "Mason Jordan Mason"--a widely published and anthologized African American poet of the 1950s and 60s, recognized by the likes of Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) and Langston Hughes—was another of Crews's carefully constructed literary personae.
A long-time proponent of the work of his friend Henry Miller
Henry Miller
Henry Valentine Miller was an American novelist and painter. He was known for breaking with existing literary forms and developing a new sort of 'novel' that is a mixture of novel, autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection, surrealist free association, and mysticism, one that is...
(a reprint of Miller's Maurizius Forever was one of Motive Press's earliest publications), Crews was a lifelong activist against censorship in publishing. Much of his own output as an independent, small press publisher consisted of short-run, inexpensively produced literary chapbooks and magazines, making him a notable figure in the 1960s-70s movement known as the Mimeo Revolution.
Select bibliography
The Southern Temper (Waco, TX, 1946)No is the Night (Taos, NM, 1949)
Patrocinio Barela, Taos Wood Carver (with Wendell B. Anderson and Mildred Crews, Taos, NM, 1955)
Inwade to Briney Garth (Taos, NM, 1960)
A Unicorn When Needs Be (Taos, NM, 1963)
Selected Poems (Cleveland, OH, 1964)
Three on a Match (with Wendell B. Anderson and "Cerise Farallon," Taos, NM, 1966)
Nolo Contendere (Houston, TX, 1978)
Songs (as "Charley John Greasybear," Boise, ID, 1979)
The Noose, A Retrospective: 4 Decades (Duende/Tooth of Time, Placitas, NM, 1980)
The Clock of Moss (Boise, ID, 1983)
Against All Wounds (Parkdale, OR, 1987)
Dolores Herrera/Nations and Peoples (Las Cruces, NM, 1991)
The Brave Wild Coast: A Year with Henry Miller (Los Angeles, 1997)
External links
- Taos News obituary
- Judson Crews' Papers 1935 - 1981 at the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin
- Judson Crews Papers 1936-1961 at the UCLA Special Collection, Young (Charles E.) Research Library
- Judson C. Crews Papers 1945-1987 at the University of New Mexico, University Libraries, Center for Southwest Research, Albuquerque, NM
- Mark Weber, "The Judson Crews I Know"