Guide to the Robert M. Petersen papers

Nicholas G. Meriwether
University of California, Santa Cruz
2014
1156 High Street
Santa Cruz 95064
speccoll@library.ucsc.edu

Note

Finding aid revised in 2018


Contributing Institution: University of California, Santa Cruz
Title: Robert M. Petersen papers
Creator: Petersen, Robert M., 1938-1987
Identifier/Call Number: MS.337
Physical Description: 0.75 Linear Feet 2 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1936-1987
Date (bulk): 1959-1985
Abstract: This collection consists of poetry, prose, and lyrics written by Robert M. "Bobby" Petersen, along with some supporting material: notes, correspondence, photographs, and ephemera.
Physical Location: The collection is located in Special Collections and Archives.
Language of Material: English

Access

The collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by Didrik Petersen and administered by Alan Trist. The publication or use of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use for research or educational purposes requires written permission from the copyright owner. Responsibility for obtaining permissions, and for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Preferred Citation

Robert M. Petersen Papers, MS 337. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.

Acquisition Information

This collection was donated in 2010 by Alan Trist. Additional materials were donated by Richard Wilcox in 2012.

Custodial History

Alan Trist donated the collection to the UC Santa Cruz University Library in 2010. A second, small accrual of additional materials was donated in 2012 by Richard Wilcox, one of Petersen's friends, via Alan Trist.

Biography

Robert McLane Petersen (1936-1987) was a poet best known for the four lyrics he wrote for the Grateful Dead: "New Potato Caboose," "Pride of Cucamonga," "Unbroken Chain," and "Revolutionary Hamstrung Blues." Born in Klamath Falls, OR, Petersen moved to Sacramento, CA, as a boy. He attended the College of San Mateo, where he became friends with Phil Lesh, and was an active participant in the Palo Alto/peninsula post-Beat bohemian scene in which the Grateful Dead emerged. He married Cecilia Jane Adams in 1962; they had one child, Didrik, born in 1964.
Petersen served two prison terms; his first produced the unpublished chapbook "Blue Petre," later included in Alleys of the Heart: The Collected Poems of Robert M. Petersen . In his first published collection, Far Away Radios , he wrote that his poetry had been published in several small press and alternative publications.
A participant in the Grateful Dead community until his death, Petersen attended concerts and traveled with the band on their spring 1986 tour. He died in San Francisco in January 1987 after experiencing a stroke, following the Dead's New Year's Eve performance. He was returning to Cottage Grove, OR, where he was living at the time.

Scope and Content of Collection

The collection consists of manuscripts, typescripts, and one chapbook paste-up, including poetry, prose, lyrics, notes, and correspondence, along with photographs and a few items written by others.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged according to four series: Collections; Lyrics; Poetry; and Prose and Miscellaneous. Several factors made reconstruction of Petersen's archive challenging. His peripatetic lifestyle meant that drafts of his work were not assembled and maintained in the order in which they were created and edited, and he gave drafts of some works to friends. He paginated longer works only occasionally. Often Petersen grouped poems together to create longer works, either as individual long poems or small collections; those groupings were retained in processing. Manuscript emendations, paper type, and typewriter characteristics all helped to determine arrangement. Untitled works are listed by first line.

Processing Information

Materials were organized according to genre and arranged alphabetically and chronologically. A substantial number of photocopies duplicating material in the collection were discarded; a few photocopies with no original were retained.

Bibliography

Three anthologies of Petersen's poetry have been published. The first, Far Away Radios, had two printings; the second, posthumous collection, Alleys of the Heart, was assembled by Petersen's friend, longtime band family member and Ice Nine manager Alan Trist. The copyright page of Far Away Radios states that a number of poems included in that anthology had been published in several literary magazines and alternative publications: The Willie, San Francisco Phoenix , Georgia Straight, and Desperado. In 2015, Petersen's first chapbook, Pecker Poles, left in paste-up at his death, was produced.
Robert M. Petersen. Far Away Radios. Arcata, CA: Bug Press, 1980.
Robert M. Petersen. Far Away Radios. 2nd printing. San Anselmo, CA: San Anslemo Printing, [1984]. Note: This printing sponsored by Grateful Dead Productions.
Trist, Alan, ed. Alleys of the Heart: The Collected Poems of Robert M. Petersen . Eugene, OR: Hulogosi, 1988.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Petersen, Robert M., 1938-1987
Grateful Dead (Musical group)

 

Series 1: Collections

Box 1, Folder 1

Collection Notes

Box 1, Folder 2

Alleys of the Heart Rejects

Container Summary: 21 pages.
Box 1, Folder 3

Alleyways of the Heart

Container Summary: 1 bound volume.

Note

Velobound typescript draft of what would become Alleys of the Heart , dated March 7, 1988.
Box 1, Folder 4

Lama Mountain

Container Summary: 12 pages.
Box 1, Folder 5

Pecker Poles, Rejects

Container Summary: 16 pages.
Box 1, Folder 6

Pecker Poles Paste-Ups

Container Summary: 8 pages.
 

Series 2: Lyrics

Box 1, Folder 7

Pretty to Remember

Container Summary: 2 pages.
Box 1, Folder 8

Pride of Cucamonga

Container Summary: 3 pages.
Box 1, Folder 9

Revolutionary Hamstrung Blues

Container Summary: 6 pages.
Box 1, Folder 10

Sheet-Iron Jack Was A Highwayman

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 11

The Flying of the Raven

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 12

Upon the Road A Silver Scarab

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 13

Winter Blue

Material Specific Details: Differs completely from the poem by the same name.
Container Summary: 1 page.
 

Series 3: Poetry

Box 1, Folder 14

4.

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 15

10

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 16

A Pale Streak Above the Paulinas

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 17

A Poem Edged in Black

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 18

Alta California

Container Summary: 2 pages.

Note

Likely fragment; second page possibly to a different poem.
Box 1, Folder 19

Azul! Azul! Azul!

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 20

Balboa Called It

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 21

Beginning Again / As An

Container Summary: 4 pages.

Note

Pages numbered 1, 2, 4, 5.
Box 1, Folder 22

Big Sur

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 23

Black Point Blues

Container Summary: 3 pages.
Box 1, Folder 24

Border Ruffian Flat

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 25

Breakfast at Eliodoro's

Container Summary: 13 pages.

Note

Two complete drafts, one with hand-written emendations.
Box 1, Folder 26

Cabin Fever

Container Summary: 6 pages.

Note

May be missing one or more pages; arrangement unclear.
Box 1, Folder 27

Cabanas

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 28

City News

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 29

City of Angels

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 30

Collision Course

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 31

Coyote

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 32

Eons

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 33

Fern Rock

Container Summary: 5 pages.

Note

Incomplete, based on the published version in Alleys of the Heart , pp.96-103.
Box 1, Folder 34

Five Seismic Disturbances

Container Summary: 2 pages.
Box 1, Folder 35

For Bobby Hutton

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 36

For Didrik

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 37

For Jane

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 38

For Lady Day

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 39

From Alta California

Container Summary: 4 pages.

Note

Two incomplete drafts, one comprising a variant first page.
Box 1, Folder 40

From Iron Peak Lookout

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 41

From the Well-Spring

Container Summary: 17 pages.

Note

Probably incomplete; arrangement approximate. Overlap with other poems (eg, "Fern Rock") suggests that this may be a concatenation of several poems.
Box 1, Folder 42

Galaxie

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 43

Goat Rock

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 44

Hitch-Hike Fragment

Container Summary: 2 pages.
Box 1, Folder 45

Home

Container Summary: 4 pages.
Box 1, Folder 46

Horses and Mules

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 47

Hot Springs, Big Sur

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 48

Hotel

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 49

I Turned the Corner

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 50

It Would've Been Like Pistol-Whipping

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 51

Lines From the Smoke Creek Desert

Container Summary: 5 pages.
Box 1, Folder 52

Mating Season

Container Summary: 2 pages.
Box 1, Folder 52

Mirages

Container Summary: 2 pages.
Box 1, Folder 54

Morning Raga

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 55

My Dream of California

Container Summary: 2 pages.
Box 1, Folder 56

My Night Roaring

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 57

Myself

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 58

Notebook, 1977

Container Summary: 15 pages.
Box 1, Folder 59

Notebook MSS, Undated

Container Summary: 6 pages.
Box 1, Folder 60

Noyo River

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 61

Oregon Graffiti

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 62

Oux-Kanee

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 64

Pecker Poles

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 64

Poem Written on a Hot Day

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 65

Portrait: Laughing Gull

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 66

Portrait: The Raven

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 68

Project City

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 69

Punta Gorda

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 70

Red River

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 71

Rio Del Mar

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 72

San Francisco Blues

Container Summary: 2 pages.
Box 1, Folder 73

San Joaquin

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 74

Santa Lucia

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 75

Short Frantic Letter to the Muse

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 76

Springtime Hidden in the Mountains

Container Summary: 5 pages.

Note

Two drafts, one comprising a variant of the first page.
Box 1, Folder 77

Stones

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 78

Sweet Dreamy Days

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 79

Sweet Young

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 80

Tender Grapes

Container Summary: 15 pages.
Box 1, Folder 81

The Bear

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 82

The Bones of Sonora

Container Summary: 2 pages.
Box 1, Folder 83

The Deer Move Without Our Seeing

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 84

The Land of Lorca

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 85

The Slow Dry Crawl

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 86

Them Mean Old Red Mountain Blues

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 87

This Night

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 88

Threetree Jerro

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 89

Viejo

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 90

Waves of Grass in a Meadow

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 91

Winter Blue

Container Summary: 1 page.
 

Series 4: Prose and Miscellaneous

Box 2, Folder 1

Blues 4 A.M.

Container Summary: 2 pages.
Box 2, Folder 2

Daylight Savings Time

Container Summary: 24 pages.

Note

Three drafts, one duplicated with carbon paper.
Box 1, Folder 3

Midnight Hour

Container Summary: 1 page.
Box 1, Folder 4

Untitled Essay

Container Summary: 35 pages.

Note

Multiple drafts, all incomplete.
Box 2, Folder 5

Correspondence

Container Summary: 2 pages.

Note

One letter from Petersen to Viejo; one from Richard Wilcox to Petersen.
Box 2, Folder 6

Notes, Ephemera

Container Summary: 5 pages.
Box 2, Folder 7

Photographs

Note

Includes contact sheet and negatives.
 

Poems to Petersen

Container Summary: 2 pages.
Box 2, Folder 8

Exhibit, Display Material

Container Summary: 4 items.

Note

File folders and envelopes retained for possible exhibit.
 

Series 5: Publications

Box 2, Folder 9

Far Away Radios (2nd printing).

Note

This is the second printing.
Box 2, Folder 10

Pecker Poles (chapbook, 2015).

Note

This is a posthumous edition, printed in 2015, using the paste-ups created by Petersen (see Series 1, Box 1, Folder 6). Its printing was authorized by Didrik Petersen.