Ralph La Charity (CHAIR i tee), Poet, Critic, Publisher

La Charity lives with his wife Linda and their "big dog, 3 wee cats" at 5804 Peabody, Cincinnati OH 45227; his e.mail address is la_charity@msn.com and his phone number is 1-513-527-4654

A mixture of Swedish, French and Irish, he was born 17 June 1944 at Bethlehem PA; he stand 5'9" and weighs 220; he has brown hair and eyes, is ambidextrous, and has a son and a daughter. He describes his sexual orientation as "both solar & upper amazonian"--as is his religion. His political stance is simple: "that which is not mutual & collaborative is oppressive."

La Charity got his post-high-school formal education at Hunter College in New York City and Kent State in Ohio. All he will say of his earnings from his occupation as poet/percussionist/publisher is "tsk tsk."

His primary vocations and hobbies are dancing & spying. A sampling of what La Charity enjoys in the arts besides poetry would include the book, 100 yrs o' solitude, the movie, Ballad of Cable Hogue, the music of Mingus & Ellington, and the paintings of Max Ernst & Romare Bearden. About his interests in science and philosophy, he says he has read "walkin' occam's razor" by margareta waterman. His sports-related interests are striding, percussing and incanting. When asked about "life-in-general," he mused, "Too many clues not followed to their conclusions/ the syllables fork relentlessly & without apology."

The first poem that came to his mind when he was filling out the questionnaire this write- up is based on was "The Fable of the Final Hour."

What does he think of the current state of the world, and can he do anything about it? He believes one should "enunciate the incantations mindfully, & often, both in public & in private."

La Charity lists the following zines, web-sites, etc., as deserving mention in the Comprepoetica dictionary: Potts's Temple magazine & Tsunami nexus; Bob Holman's site; the epc; margareta waterman's nine muses videos . . .

Among his published works are:

an oral rendition of Whale Song II that's at the Burning Press web site
Monkey Opera (1979)
The Glass Ass Runaround (1980)
Tonguing Crooked Ample (1993)
CINEMANUENSING (1998)

Among the contemporary poets important to La Charity, he lists Andy Clausen, Bill Polak, Charlie Potts, Don Wilsun and Ed Dorn. Earlier poets important to him include Fedorico Garcia Lorca, George Oppen, Hart Crane, Inada, Lawson and Jack Spicer. He also has several favorite current critics: Foley, Grumman, Perloff and Silliman. He singles out Kenneth Rexroth among those no longer with us whom he considers a worthy critic.

About his tastes in poetry, La Charity says, "music, intelligence, vision, & passion--if they are palpable, I can suffer thru both subject & technique, even be illumined by same." As a critic he tries "to address the holy facts, ineffable tho they be, insofar as I can consciously identify the intricacies of their stirrings within my mental purview." His impression of contemporary poetry is that "One must search it out, seeking for oneself, as the the old traveller advised, evidence of what goes down. Given the willingness for said venturing, the sky's the limit: I am continually amazed & appalled at the breadth abounding, yea verily."

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