James Liddy, 74: poet & teacher
Garrett
Irish poet Liddy was 'classic Bohemian'
By Alan J. Borsuk of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Nov. 11, 2008
"Hey, ho, Liddy don't go" - that was a line in the chorus of a song by
McTavish, a Milwaukee Irish music band, that paid tribute to James Liddy.
The song, from the 1990s, called Liddy "the king of the rovers." Mark
Shurilla, the band's leader, said the line about not going was referring to
the many nights Liddy, an internationally known poet, would hold court at
local pubs, telling stories, giving erudite discourses on history,
literature, politics or just about any other subject. When he got up to
leave, people pleaded with him to stay. Often, he would.
But now he is gone, and it is a great loss to the cultural scene in
Milwaukee, in the eyes of many local poets and others. Liddy, 74, died
Wednesday, two months after being diagnosed with renal cancer.
"He was like your ultimate Irish convivial spirit who would just love to
hang around with everybody," Shurilla said.
Jim Hazard, a Milwaukee poet and writer, called Liddy "a classic Bohemian."
Hazard said Liddy loved to be in a university classroom, working with
students, which he had done at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee since
1976. But he loved more to be in a saloon or restaurant where he could hold
forth and often get many others involved in the conversation.
Susan Firer, Hazard's wife and Milwaukee's official poet laureate, said: "He
knew more than anyone I've had a chance to spend a long time with. . . . He
was one of the great conversationalists in the city." She added, "You never
wasted your time when you were with James."
Asked for key words to describe him, her list included: Irish, Catholic,
gay, beat. He was influenced by many great poets, from Walt Whitman to Allen
Ginsberg, and he knew more poets, both personally and professionally, than
anyone else she knew, Firer said.
Liddy was born and raised in Ireland and was steeped in its literature and
culture. He moved to San Francisco and later Milwaukee to teach, write and
enjoy life.
"He was sort of ecstatic about daily life," Hazard said. "Ordinary people,
ordinary places were wonderful."
Liddy found Milwaukee to be very similar to Dublin, similar in size, climate
and a culture built around pubs, said Shurilla.
Liddy traveled back and forth between Milwaukee and Ireland often and was
well known in both: A major piece on his death appeared last week in the
Irish Times, a Dublin newspaper. The newspaper called Liddy "one of
Ireland's leading poets."
Liddy had his quirks - he didn't own a television or a car - and he
definitely had his prickly side, friends said. While he loved almost
everybody, he could also be demanding.
Hazard said: "For all his sweetness or his idealism, he really could be
angry. It was righteous anger. . . . Mostly it was at crassness or
stupidity and also at any unprofessional waiter or waitress. Never was a man
more outraged, walking in fury across a restaurant with napkin under his
chin, to demand the right service."
Jim Chapson, Liddy's partner for more than 40 years, said Liddy greatly
valued the role he could play as a mentor to students.
Numerous books of Liddy's work have been published, and he helped many other
poets and writers get their work into print, friends said.
Drew Blanchard, a graduate student in creative writing and Irish culture at
UWM, said that as soon as he came to Milwaukee in 2006, Liddy began helping
him - taking him to lunch, giving him books to read, helping him get his own
work published.
Liddy taught courses that included poetry, creative writing, beat literature
and Irish literature at UWM.
David Brannan, who said he had been close to Liddy since 1984, said, "This
is going to leave a real hole for people in their lives. He just had so much
influence."
Chapson said Liddy will be buried Saturday in Ireland. A memorial service in
Milwaukee is being planned.
As much as he lived a Bohemian lifestyle, he remained deeply involved in and
knowledgeable about the Roman Catholic Church, friends said.
Hazard said in recent weeks, Liddy felt "this great peacefulness at the end
of his life." His attitude, Hazard said, was, "I'm ready for the next thing,
and it's going to be good."