Remembering Ted Berrigan

I remember first coming across Ted Berrigan's Sonnets in the 1960s and was soon trying- no doubt unsuccessfully- to write like him. Though he had many imitators, he was really one of a kind. He died on July 4th, 1983. Check out Tom Clark's entry on Berrigan in Vanitas.

Politically, Berrigan was certainly no mug. This despite his anarchic humour and the contour of his work. Though, of course, some would have you think otherwise. So well you're at it, have a look at Tariq Ali's talk on Obama, Pakistan and the US Empire, delivered the other day in London. I can't help but think that Berrigan would have agreed with him.