DICK

Author: Ron Padgett

Publisher: Cuneiform Press (2025)

In the commentary on the so-called Tulsa School of poetry—Ted Berrigan, Joe Brainard, Dick Gallup, and me—Dick, remained, even while he was alive, a somewhat recessive, shadowed, mysterious presence in the background. This vague impression of him—a result of his reluctance to put himself forward as a “personality,” and of his eventual withdrawal from the poetry world—has continued into his posthumous life. His death not only removed his physical presence from the world, it also signaled to me the beginning of the erasure of the very memory of him, except among those who knew and admired him. As his lifelong friend, I was unable to bear the thought of the effacement of such an extraordinary person and poet. I hope to give him the credit he deserves for his books and for the powerful influence he had on Ted Berrigan and me as people and as writers, as well as on the other writers (and artists) who knew how good he was. It’s time to bring Dick Gallup into the limelight, where he belongs.