Richard Brautigan - (1935-1984)
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I. Biography Richard Gary Brautigan was born on January 30, in Tacoma, Washington. His parents are Bernard and Mary
Brautigan. He was the oldest child in the family. His childhood was an unfortunate one. He didn't even know his father. About twenty years later, he threw a rock into a
police station window and was sent to Oregon State Hospital, where he was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. He was given shock therapy. Soon after he was released from the hospital, Brautigan left home and moved to
San Francisco where he was involved with the Beat movement. His first poem published was The Second Kingdom in 1956. On June 8, 1957, he married
Virginia Dionne Adler in Reno, Nevada. In 1957-58, poems The Return of the Rivers and The Galilee Hitch-Hiker were published. In 1959, his first collection of poems,
twenty-four in all, were put together. It was called Lay the Marble Tea. In 1960, The Octopus Frontier was published. March 25, 1960, he had a daughter named Lanthe. In the
60's, he spent time with the family in Idaho's Stanley Basin around trout streams where he wrote Trout Fishing in America on a portable typewriter. In addition, A Confederate General from BigSur
was published. During this time, he often gave away copies of his poems on the streets. In 1966-67 he resided at California Institute of Technology and had Trout Fishing in America and
All Watched over by Machines of Loving Grace published. In 1968, Brautigan was awarded a grant from The National Endowment for the Arts. He also published three more books: In Watermelon Sugar,
The Pill versus the Springhill Mine Disaster and Please Plant this Book which included eight seed packets, each containing seeds, with poems printed on the sides. Then in 1969, all three were published in a
collection. On July 28, 1970, he was divorced from Virginia in San Francisco and Rommel Drives on Deep into Egypt was published. The Abortion: A Historical Romance 1966 was published.
His next work to be published was The Revenge of the Lawn. Between 1972 and '73, Brautigan moved to Pine Creek, Montana, which is just north of Yellowstone National Park.
He also stated that he wasn't giving lectures nor doing interviews for the next eight years. He published six more books between 1974 and 1978. Later in 1978, five of his books were
banned in Union Hills High School in Northern California. An ACLU case decided in favor of Brautigan and his publisher. In 1980, The Tokyo-Montana Express was published. In 1982,
So the Wind Won't Blow it All Away was published. This was Richard Brautigan's last book to be published, because two years later, in 1984, he took his life. His body was found several weeks later on
October 25, 1984. It was found next to a bottle of alcohol and a .44 caliber gun. Evidence proved that Brautigan had died of a gunshot wound. II. Literary Works
The Second Kingdom III. Brautigan on the Web
The Return of the Rivers
The Galilee Hitch-Hiker
Lay the Marble Tea
The Octopus Frontier
Trout Fishing in America
A Confederate General from Big Sur
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace
In Watermelon Sugar
The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster
In Watermelon Sugar
Rommel Drives On Deep into Egypt
The Abortion: An Historical Romance 1966
The Revenge of the Lawn
The Hawkline Monster
Willard and His Bowling Trophies
Loading Mercury with a Pitchfork
Sombrero Fallout
Dreaming of Babylon
June 30th, June 30th
Zen and Contemporary Poetry
The Tokyo -- Montana Express
So the Wind Won't Blow It All Away
http://empirezine.com/spotlight/brautigan/brau-intro.htm
This essay was submitted by a student of Steve Gardiner, a teacher at Billings Senior High School in Billings, Montana.