Death is man’s mortal weakness, and our fear of death seems to based on two things: the finality of death and the uncertainty of what follows. In the arts, death is even more profound because for the artist, there is always that nagging question about legacy and what we leave behind and how will we be remembered.
During the course of creating phati’tude, a number of artists and supporters . . . really wonderful human beings who cared about not only their craft, but also their community . . . met their untimely deaths. These tributes, while designed to acknowledge our loss, is really a collection of portraits of journeys that validate our own truthful self-existence. Their contributions may vary . . . from remaining true to their communities, or the artistic works they have left behind . . . their imprint will remain with us forever.
Radcliffe A. David & Pedro Pietri
Radcliffe A. David, known to family and friends as “Rad,” “Uncle,” and “Dad,” passed away suddenly on April 1, 2006. He was the announcer for phatLiterature’s 2002 and 2004 season, and a supporter of the program. Poet-activist Pedro Pietri lent his support during the early stages of phatLiterature by participating in our first season in 2002. Pedro passed away after a long illness on March 3, 2004. Although their lives were worlds apart, they shared striking similarities: both men were children of immigrants; they were raised in Manhattan and lived some time in the Bronx; they both attended Haaren High School, an all boys school in Manhattan; and they both believed that it was incumbent upon themselves to support worthy causes, which they both succeeded in doing during their lifetime. While we were fortunate to have them in our lives, we continue to grieve their loss. Below are tributes to Radcliffe A. David and Pedro Pietri, including a brief narrative on their lives and the impact they had on their respective communities.
Michael Jozwick
Michael Jozwick was an original. He was Assistant to the Artistic Director & Stage Manager for phatLiterature in 2002, working closely with Director Felix Leo Campos. Born and raised in New York, his greatest joy was to perform before a live audience Through a mutual friend, Michael and his wife, Valerie became early supporters of phatLiterature. Back then, we didn’t really quite know what we were getting into, yet Michael eased our pain by remaining upbeat and professional. Tackling heart disease most of his life, he died too young, but he has left a legacy with those who knew him: his smile, his jokes and upbeat personality. He will always be missed. Read more about Michael here.
E.K. Caldwell & Carroll Arnett
While “Indian Summer” was being edited, two of phati’tude’s contributing Native writers, E.K. Caldwell and Carroll Arnett (Gogisgi), passed away during the Summer of 1997. Joseph Bruchac, who worked closely with E.K. (Kim), wrote a poem in tribute, while Geary Hobson gave us permission to reprint his tribute which was posted on the Native American Writers’ Circle website at the time of her untimely death.
While I did not know Carroll and E.K. personally, I was a great admirer of their work. I found their voices eloquent, urgent, humorous, brutally honest, and they each managed to affirm the enduring potency of Native oral traditions.
E.K. was a respected poet and musician in her own right. Her poetry and stories have been published in a variety of anthologies and journals both nationally and internationally including: “For She is the Tree of Life; Grandmothers Through the Eyes of Women Writers,” “Blue Dawn, Red Earth,” “Gatherings Vll,” and “Reinventing the Enemy’s Language.” Kim’s journalistic writings were published in nationally distributed News From Indian Country, New York Times syndicated multicultural wire service, The Bloomsbury Review, Indigenous Woman Magazine and American Indian Review, to name a few. Two of her books were published since her death: Bear: Animal Lore and Legend Indian Legends (October 1999), a children’s book; and Dreaming the Dawn: Conversations With Native Artists and Activists (American Indian Lives) (December 1999), a collections of works by Native writers, edited by E.K.
Believe it or not, I was already familiar with Carroll’s work long before phati’tude’s inception, having “discovered” his work while in high school, and was honored that he submitted work for publication in this issue. He taught literature and writing at Nasson College, was professor of English at Central Michigan University, wrote more than three hundred poems and stories, and published over a dozen books, sometimes under his Cherokee name “Gogisgi.” The timelessness of his poetry is demonstrated in Carroll’s response to the Oklahoma Bombing of 1995 in the poem “And So On” (submitted in Geary Hobson’s tribute), which could have been easily written about the recent tragedy of the WTC terrorist attack in New York City this past September.
The outpouring by both Native and non-Native authors makes it clear that both E.K. and Carroll have made an invaluable contributions to American literature. They will be, and will continue to be, sorely missed. (G. David, 1997)
