Stuart Z. Perkoff
Stuart Z. Perkoff was an American poet born on July 29, 1930, in St. Louis, Missouri. He led a nomadic early life, moving from New York to the West Coast, where he became part of the vibrant Beat community in Venice, California, during the early 1950s. Perkoff faced significant personal challenges, including struggles with heroin addiction and tumultuous relationships, most notably with his first wife, Suzan Blanchard, from whom he divorced after a decade of marriage. His later life included multiple marriages, and he spent a period in prison due to a narcotics charge. Despite his erratic lifestyle, which led to much of his poetry remaining unpublished, Perkoff made notable contributions to literature, with his first collection, *The Suicide Room*, released in 1956, and *Kowboy Pomes*, a celebrated work published in 1973 that showcased his evolving poetic voice. He passed away from cancer in 1974, leaving behind a legacy that included a compilation of his works, *Voices of the Lady*, published posthumously by his brother in 1998. Perkoff's poetry reflects a complex interplay of personal experience and artistic expression, positioning him as an intriguing figure within the Beat literary movement.
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Subject Terms
Stuart Z. Perkoff
- Born: July 29, 1930
- Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri
- Died: June 25, 1974
- Place of death: Venice, California
Biography
Stuart Z. Perkoff was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on July 29, 1930. During his adolescence he lived an itinerant life, moving first to New York and then to the West Coast, where he eventually settled in Venice, California. He became interested in the literary scene in Venice and by early 1950 was a member of the area’s growing Beat community.
Perkoff had a rather tumultuous personal life. He became addicted to heroin, and he dodged the draft. In 1949, he married Suzan Blanchard, with whom he had a rocky relationship. Blanchard was angry and hurt when Perkoff appeared at a concert while she was in labor with their child. The relationship continued to be stormy, and they divorced after ten years of marriage. Although they attempted to reconcile at least twice, they were never able to overcome their problems.
Perkoff later married Jana Baragan. In 1968, he was arrested on a narcotics charge and was sentenced to prison, where he served three years. For a short time during this period, Perkoff’s former wife, Suzan, and his current wife, Jana, lived together in Northern California. Jana Perkoff returned to Venice, California, and died of a drug overdose not long afterward. Perkoff married his third wife, Susan Berman, and the couple had a child. His last great love was Philomene Long.
Perkoff returned to Venice and became a bookseller for a brief period in 1973. He also began to write poetry again, although he did not achieve the same level of recognition as he had for his earlier work. Unfortunately, Perkoff died of cancer in 1974, and much of his work remained unpublished at the time of his death. It is unknown how much of Perkoff’s work was lost because of his erratic lifestyle. According to his friends and fellow poets, Frank Rios and Tony Scibella, the three poets would occasionally gather together to write poetry, which they would burn at the end of the evening.
Perkoff’s first book of poetry, The Suicide Room, a collection of short poems which apparently paid homage to poet William Carlos Williams, was published in 1956. Perkoff is best known for a collection of poems he wrote from 1959 to 1960. These poems were published in 1973 as Kowboy Pomes. Perkoff’s later work, written shortly before his death, indicate that he was turning in a new direction, with his verse seeming to be a confrontation between the poet and his subject. In 1998, Perkoff’s brother Gerald compiled much of his work into a volume titled Voices of the Lady, which was published by the National Poetry Foundation.