RIP Lewis Turco
 

I saw a FB post announcing that Lewis Turco had died, and I've found an obituary. Many of you will know his Book of Forms. I'm grateful to Lew for inventing the terzanelle, a favorite form of mine.

Oh, what a shame.

I didn't know he invented the terzanelle. He used a terzanelle of mine in the (I think) most recent edition, though it really wasn't very good. (I'm not just being modest here. I didn't care for it at all, but he saw it at the Sphere and asked for it so I couldn't bring myself to say no).

I remember him most for cranky diatribes about free verse not being poetry, etc., but somehow I liked him. May he rest in peace.

I never met him, but I would have liked to. He did formal poetry a service with his Book of Forms. I am sorry to hear that he has died.

Susan

I'm very sorry to hear this news. I bought his Book of Forms and he instantly became my hero for having written it!
I didn't know him, but I would have liked to meet him, very much so.

Jayne

Aww. I only had a few minor interactions with him here at the 'Sphere, but his Book of Forms is quite literally always within arm's reach of my computer. I even cited it in my dissertation (specifically his comments on stanza breaks). He's left a good legacy.

..and that "Wesli Court" fellow who wrote his poems!

I'm very sorry to hear it. We corresponded on & off for several years after I reviewed his book The Gathering of Elders for Italian Americana in 2011. In the aftermath he was grateful and very generous with unsolicited tips on publication, copies of his own books, and more. On Facebook he was funny, punny, kind, and infuriating--yet charmingly so. It was as if he couldn't help saying exactly what he thought, no matter the subject or occasion--it was just who he was. In his blog he was the same way. As Wesli or Lew, he wrote some very fine poems, and we can all be grateful for his Book of Forms in many editions.

If you'd like to know him better, here's the link to his blog. You'll find a flood of light verse & in the "Categories" many entries to explore.
https://lewisturco.typepad.com/poetics/

I'm very sad to hear this. Wes Hyatt, a writing friend of mine, had attended the same high school class with Lew at Meriden High in Connecticut. I once emailed Lew a terzanelle I had written. He was nice for giving me some great feedback on the poem and helping me enhance it.

We went back to Bread Loaf in 1968, where he was my faculty reader. I also introduced him to Eratosphere, where he proved so contentious that no conversation with him went anywhere. The Book of Forms has been useful to many poets, and it did help to keep the formal flame alive during some lean years.

Sad news. I did meet him at a conference, maybe West Chester.

I like that terzanelle form.