BRAD: Here's a question I find hard to answer myself, so I’m going to throw it at you. Why do you write poetry as opposed to other forms of writing? I understand you write stories and novels, but why write poetry?

FRED: I began reading at a very early age. In fact I was reading by the time I reached school. I began writing (because of baseball of all things) around the age of 10. Of course I was writing prose (which I continue to do with three novels published--one that was also translated and published in Germany) and numerous other things. Poetry was not among my early writings. When I was in school--the Mattoon, Illinois schools sucked. Poetry? They had me hating it as much as I did school. I finally dropped out and enlisted in the Navy at 17 when I was guaranteed San Diego, California for boot camp. After boot and other training I was stationed at the Coronado Navy Amphibious Base.

BRAD: Yeah, I went to “Boat School” there in the ‘80s. I was seventeen, too.

FRED: This was in the late ‘50s and "beatnik coffee houses" were all over the state. I became a beatnik when on liberty, and unlike the hippies later on, I was welcome even though it was obvious I was in the military. I don't care what you did—you couldn't hide it from the civilians. Poetry readings happened about every night. As I was finally seeing poetry in a different light I was discovering folk music and jazz. Then the ship I was stationed on finally made its first cruise to San Francisco. The first place I headed for was North Beach and the City Lights Bookstore. I had already read Kerouac's On the Road by then. The pocket poet series was cheap so I started buying them. I discovered Bob Kauffman, Ginsberg's Howl, Corso, and the others. Still I wrote only prose. After Vietnam and my discharge I reluctantly returned to my hometown. I'd fucked up and married a gal from the area and she INSISTED we return. One night I was watching a television program called The Les Crane Show and saw Bob Dylan sing "It's alright Ma (I'm only bleeding)." On my lunch break from work the next day I went to the local record store and ordered every Bob Dylan LP he'd recorded, which wasn't many at the time. I realized I was listening to poetry and within days I found myself writing not just prose but poetry as well. So I guess I write poetry because I was one lucky sonofabitch who was led to it by sheer, dumb luck.

BRAD: Do you live with any animals other than yourself?

FRED: I usually have a dog for companionship, but none at the moment. For some reason the Basenji (an African barkless hound) is my favorite breed because they are so damn independent. Almost like cats in may ways, which most dog lovers find confusing. In fact, so do I since I am a pound dog & allergic to cats. But I have had cats in my life. Actually I like all animals, but Basnjis remain my favorite. I forgot. I do have an animal living inside me. When he gets loose—no telling what we might end up doing together.

BRAD: What is your favorite beverage?

FRED: Budweiser, though I like tequila or sour mash whiskey on occasion. Ice water is my next preference and tea more than coffee in the morning these days.

BRAD: Give us your take, your view on the Vietnam War.

FRED: I’ll try to keep it brief and to one subject. The French took over all Indochina (Laos, Cambodia & Vietnam) as a colony in 1890. The Japanese kicked them out during WWII. After we defeated Japan, Ho Chi Minh came to us and asked us to help him unite Vietnam as a democratic nation. The French wanted the country back. We took France’s side and, much to his chagrin, Minh declared war on us, though France was his declared enemy. So, had we listened to Minh and assisted him instead of the French, we would not have lost 58,000 plus American troops in Indochina.

We preach democracy but turned Minh down in favor of France reclaiming Indochina as a colony. After the French got their asses kicked at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, and finally out of Nam, an embittered Minh was now a communist. Which (since we are so pro-democracy and anti-communistic) of course meant we had to now return to kick some more "commie" ass. By the way, WE DID NOT lose the war in Nam on the battlefield. We were defeated politically as will probably happen to us again in Iraq.

Regarding Vietnam, I would like to add that Hanoi Jane (as Jane Fonda is referred to by most Nam Vets) committed treason as far as I am concerned by going to Hanoi, North Vietnam during the war to protest our presence there. She sat in the seat of a NVA anti-aircraft gun wearing one of their helmets during one of the photos. She posed for the shot like it was one more goddamn movie set. The barrel was aimed skyward and I wonder how many of our aircraft it had shot down. One high ranking North Vietnamese official said her visit probably helped their propaganda machine more than anything else and helped drive us out of Nam more than anything else. Hanoi Jane. Treasonous cunt (cunt is a word I rarely use) should have faced a firing squad or at the very least been sentenced to life in prison as the average American would have done.

BRAD: In your opinion, is there really any difference--besides finance--between the small press poetry publications and the slick academic journals?

FRED: There is a great difference between the small press publications and the slick academic journals. The small press publishes poets the slick journals will never touch. Why? No balls or so enraptured by themselves and how much of the "old school style" poetry they write, teach, and publish—they have never discovered what has been under their stuffy noses for years now. Ask most poetry readers you know who the Poet laureate of America is and they’ll probably respond with something like, "What?" Had Bukowski been Poet Laureate in his lifetime, even non-poetry readers would know who he was and perhaps discover poetry. I should add "academia" missed things like Patchen reading with jazz followed by Kerouac and others. They missed Ken Nordine and Gil Scott-Heron with and without "The Last Poets" and many poets who got locked up in that archaic world are more unknown than many of us "small press poets." Miller Williams (a southern poet) is a good example. I am only thankful his daughter Lucinda Williams (one of my favorite songwriter/singers) was blessed with his "word" genes. Her lyrics are usually sheer poetry as we would see it.

BRAD: If you had to give poetry a new name, what would it be?

FRED: I don't know if I could or would. The closest I could come up with might be "street language" since more and more poets are discovering the strength and beauty of every day language. Of course, I consider Hank Williams Sr. a poet. I enjoy some rap (not gangsta rap) because you can hear the "street language” of the ghetto.

BRAD: What is your favorite television show?

FRED: I don't watch much television. When I do it's usually a major league baseball game. Especially if the Cardinals are playing. I enjoyed The Sopranos and there was a sitcom with David Spade (Just Shoot Me) I thought was great for two reasons. The casting was perfect and they had some of the best writers writing the episodes. Don't ask me their names because I don't know. They were simply damn good and a perfect fit for the show.

BRAD: What is the weirdest thing that ever happened to you?

FRED: Nothing like an out of the body experience or seeing ghosts or anything supernatural has ever happened to me (though I think I've drank with a few ghosts over the years), so I find it difficult to answer this question. The closest I can think of regarding this question would be when I was 10 or 11 years old. It happened when neighbors of ours came home and saw me coming down the street in my skivvies around midnight. I guess they asked me if I was all right and I replied something like, "Yeah. I'm just on my way to school." Not only was it midnight but school was out for the summer. They took me home and woke up my parents and explained what had happened. I guess (since I don't remember any of this, going on hearsay from my parents) my eyes were wide open and my answers were very lucid. We always kept a large container of ice water in the refrigerator and Dad got it and poured a liberal dose over my head and body. And I woke up. I sleep walk and talk. Something I still do to this day but not as often. Not that I know of anyway. HA!

BRAD: What is the scariest thing that ever happened to you?

FRED: You finally asked a question where the answer will be brief because it has had an affect (PTSD) on me all my life since then. We are going back to when I was twenty until now. It was a period of about 20-24 hours in Vietnam. There were two teams of us that got compromised while on recon. It was the worst 24 hours of my life and not something I like to discuss. Sorry.

BRAD: Tell us a funny story from your days in the music business.

FRED: This has been a hard call so I'm going to tell you one that took place in Sacramento, California. I had opened four stores there for the record chain I worked for and was supervisor of those stores and several others in other cities. My office was in the back of a store on Florin Road and though I had an old lady I had somehow became involved with a married woman who worked in the last of the four stores we had opened which was on Arden Way. Every time I was scheduled to visit the store she worked in, she dressed extra sexy and never wore panties or a bra. Mini-skirts were still in style. She was a horny bitch and always wanted to find a way to have some sort of sex while I was there. Employee's bathroom, my car, or wherever. I had to be careful because my old lady was managing a store we had opened in a mall—I think was called the Country Club Mall.

BRAD: Yeah, it’s still there, up on Watt Avenue.

FRED: For what it's worth the fourth store was in the Sunrise Mall. One day when I was there for a short visit, because I had to go down to Modesto, I told her I didn't have time to be with her. I asked her: "Jesus, what in the hell do you do for sex when you're this horny and in a situation you can't have sex." Not my exact words. We were in the store manager's office which also led to the stock room where we kept excess inventory. She smiled, got her purse, and pulled out a battery-powered dildo and said, "This."

She had been masturbating with it long enough that she was near an orgasm and wasn't about to stop when a young kid who worked in the store came back to get records from the stock room. She was sitting in a chair and the kid froze in his tracks when he saw her pussy and what she was doing. The look on his naïve face was priceless. Not to mention that he didn't know what to do. I laughed and said, "Stay right where you are and don't disturb her. She's about to have an orgasm. Maybe several." He was about 19 and I imagine he still remembers that day. Especially since the gal had at least 4 or 5 orgasms before she was satisfied. And I don't think she had a clue he was present.

BRAD: Who is the love of your life?

FRED: Let's just say her name is Lucinda and after almost three years I don't think I am the love of her life and will never be. That doesn't mean I have given up the ghost or whatever it is they say and won't until the very end.

BRAD: What/who do you read?

FRED: My reading really varies. One is a black female writer Zora Neale Hurston and her book Mules and Men. I like Tim O'Brien a lot and Tom Robbins. One of my favorite discoveries in recent years is a southern writer Lewis Nordan. I also like Ishmael Reed and James Crumley. Carl Hiassen and Walter Mosley are two more of my favorites. And I cannot leave out James Lee Burke. I am avoiding listing any current poets so I don't leave someone out and hurt their feelings.

BRAD: Tell us about your new book PISSING ON THE POPE.

FRED: HA! I keep telling my friends that when the new Pope reads this I will have to go into hiding with Rushdie. I'll watch his back and he can watch mine. Actually the book is an attack on all organized religion since I think it is nonsense. A man's mind can be a temple of worship. I should maybe have put that in quotation marks because I think it comes from the bible. The book was prompted by the last Pope's death. It brought out all the pomp and circumstance that exemplifies the Catholic church.

BRAD: In addition to the interesting subject matter of Pope, this is a very well written book; clear, concise, doesn’t pull its punches, and is also illustrated by F.N. Wight. For that, Fred, we thank you!

For those of you who have traveled this far in the interview—we thank you as well. Now—click on PAN and buy the book before they’re all gone!


MYSTERY ISLAND: JUNE 16, 2006.


Mystery Island Interview with F.N. Wright © Copyight 2006 Mystery Island Publications. All rights reserved.






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