Charley George Papers, 1959-1990 (MSS 387)

Extent: 1.2 Linear feet (3 archives boxes)

Papers of poet Charley George. Included are manuscripts of George's poetry and prose, correspondence and biographical materials. The papers contain the manuscript for his posthumously published collection of poetry entitled Sunday's Ending Too Soon and his earlier chapbook A More. The materials are arranged in three series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS, 2) CORRESPONDENCE and 3) WRITINGS.

Born in Pennsylvania, Charley George grew up on a farm, served in the navy, and graduated from the University of Colorado. Throughout the 1970s, George was active in the Boulder poetry scene during a period that saw Jack Collom, Allen Ginsberg, Reed Bye, and others in residence. He gave readings, taught creative writing, wrote plays, and was published in over forty magazines. George's chapbook of poems, A MORE, was published in 1975.

Early on, George worked as a financial analyst for IBM, and later entered the retail jewelry industry, eventually becoming manager of the jewelry salon for Neiman-Marcus in San Francisco. Thoughout this period, he continued to write. Suddenly, in November of 1988, Charley George died of a heart attack at the age of 47.

George's sensitive and straightforwardly written pieces are undeniably American in tone and subject. As Carl Rakosi points out in his introduction of George's SUNDAY'S ENDING TOO SOON, George's poems are "extraordinarily free and natural, yet elegant...... look vaguely like haikus; but the language is more bold and speedy and there are interesting disjunctions that leap ahead and do not affect the clarity."

The Charley George papers contain biographical materials, correspondence, and manuscripts of George's poetry and prose. Also included is Kathi George's correspondence with the publishers concering the posthumous publication of SUNDAY'S ENDING TOO SOON (1993).

The papers are arranged in three series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS, 2) CORRESPONDENCE and 3) WRITINGS.

Container List

BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS

Scope and Content of Series

SERIES 1) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS: Includes George's certificates of marriage and military enlistment, resumes, yearbooks, obituary materials, newspaper articles and appointment calendars.

Box 1 Folder 1
Appointment Calendar, 1986
Box 1 Folder 2
Appointment Calendar, 1987
Box 1 Folder 3
Appointment Calendar, 1988
Box 1 Folder 4
Appointment Calendar, 1988
Box 1 Folder 5
Articles about Charley George
Box 1 Folder 6
Certificates, 1962 - 1968

Marriage and military enlistment.

Box 1 Folder 7
Flyers of Poetry Readings
Box 1 Folder 8
High School Year Book: Cardinal, 1959
Box 1 Folder 9
Legal Deposition of Charles George, 1983
Box 1 Folder 10
Miscellaneous materials
Box 1 Folder 11
Obituary materials
Box 1 Folder 12
Resumes

CORRESPONDENCE

Scope and Content of Series

SERIES 2) CORRESPONDENCE: Includes letters from 1972 to 1988 relating to George's circle of friends. Also included is correspondence from Kathi George regarding the publication of her husband's poetry.

Box 1 Folder 13
Unidentified Correspondence
Box 1 Folder 14
Miscellaneous: A-F
Box 1 Folder 15
Miscellaneous: G-W
Box 1 Folder 16
Ardinger, Rick, 1990
Box 1 Folder 17
Blitz, Gerard L., 1977
Box 1 Folder 18
Collom, Jack, 1975 - 1976
Box 1 Folder 19
Hill, Crag (with Score Sheets), 1990
Box 1 Folder 20
Lapointe, Archie E., 1972
Box 1 Folder 21
Michelson, Peter, 1989 - 1990
Box 1 Folder 22
Moulder, J. C., 1974 - 1980
Box 2 Folder 1
Potts, Charles, 1972 - 1979
Box 2 Folder 2
Rakosi, Carl, 1977 - 1979
Box 2 Folder 3
Thornburg, Dick, 1982 - 1986
Box 2 Folder 4
ZYZZYVA, 1988

WRITINGS

Scope and Content of Series

SERIES 3) WRITINGS: Arranged in three subseries: A) Poetry, B) Prose and C) Editorial Works. The Poetry subseries includes typescripts of George's two poetic works, A More and Sundat's Ending Too Soon, as well as some drafts of numerous unpublished poems. The Prose subseries includes George's two articles, "The Meaning of Being Numerous," and "Nixon and Watergate." Also included are untitled prose story fragments. The Editorial Works subseries includes two copies of Boulder Magazine which was edited by George in 1978, and some related editorial notes.

Poetry

Box 2 Folder 5
Discards and Scraps (Unfinished Poems)
Box 2 Folder 6
Discards and Scraps (Unfinished Poems)
Box 2 Folder 7
Going
Box 2 Folder 8
More , 1974 - 1975
Box 2 Folder 9
Notebooks
Box 2 Folder 10
Sunday's Ending Too Soon

Manuscript.

Box 2 Folder 11
Sunday's Ending Too Soon

Publicity materials.

Box 2 Folder 12
Sunday's Ending Too Soon

Letters of rejection. The book was finally published by The Sun and Moon Press in 1993.

Prose

Box 3 Folder 1
Meaning of Being Numerous
Box 3 Folder 2
Nixon and Watergate
Box 3 Folder 3
Untitled story fragments
Box 3 Folder 4
Untitled story fragments

Editorial Work

Box 3 Folder 5
Boulder Magazine

Editorial notes and manuscripts.