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MacAdams (Lewis) papers
LSC.2289
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Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Lewis MacAdams papers
Creator:
MacAdams , Lewis
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.2289
Physical Description:
53.2 Linear Feet
(121 boxes, 5 half boxes, 2 flat boxes, 2 flat boxes oversize, 1
telescoping box)
Date (inclusive): 1944-2014
Abstract: Lewis MacAdams is a Los Angeles-based
poet, journalist, and filmmaker, and has authored over 20 books of poems and stories.
Collection materials include MacAdams' monographs; environmental and cultural journalism;
film projects; correspondence with poets and artists; files related to the Friends of the
Los Angeles River (FoLAR); performance materials from the San Francisco and Los Angeles
poetry and arts scenes; publications from MacAdams' library, and personal memorabilia, as
well as countless drafts and poetry fragments. MacAdams' work embraces performance art and
political activism on behalf of local and national causes, and includes files related to the
founding of FoLAR. His writings about the river, politics, culture, and crime have been
published in
Rolling Stone, the Los Angeles Times, and the
L.A. Weekly.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access
special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on
this page.
Language of Material: Collection materials are primarily
in English, with some writing, correspondence, and performance materials in Spanish,
Italian, French, and German.
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in
advance using the request button located on this page.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
CONTAINS AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS: This collection contains both processed and unprocessed
audiovisual materials. For information about the access status of the material that you are
looking for, refer to the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note at the
series and file levels. All requests to access processed audiovisual materials must be made
in advance using the request button located on this page.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All
other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not
hold the copyright.
[Identification of item], Lewis MacAdams papers (Collection 2289). UCLA Library Special
Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Donated by Lewis MacAdams, 2015.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make
them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and
resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level
of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts
more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to
national and local standards and best practices.
Processed by Kelly Besser with assistance from Jade Finlinson, Gaku Uchino, and Rebecca
Bucher, and supervision from Megan Hahn Fraser, 2017.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
8109562
Lewis MacAdams is a poet, journalist, and filmmaker whose work embraces performance art and
political activism. Born October 12, 1944 and raised in Dallas, Texas, MacAdams earned a
B.A. in English from Princeton in 1966 and a Master's degree from State University of New
York, Buffalo in 1968. He participated in the poetry and performance scenes in Bolinas and
San Francisco and was director of the Poetry Center at San Francisco State University from
1975-1978. After moving to Los Angeles, MacAdams concentrated on poetry and journalism as
well as film and television projects, including a collaboration with EZTV founder John Dorr
and the Lannan Foundation on a video series that featured readings by poets. He also wrote
and performed with avant-garde artists like The Dark Bob and others in the Los Angeles
performance scene. MacAdams founded Friends of the Los Angeles River (FOLAR) in 1986, which
he describes as a "40-year art work" that aims to harness creative energies which engage
politics, magic, and imagination "to bring the Los Angeles River, one of the most degraded
rivers on earth, back to life." MacAdams has been married twice and has four children.
Collection materials include MacAdams' writings such as monographs, journalism, and film
projects, correspondence with poets and artists, files related to the Friends of the Los
Angeles River, performance materials and fliers from the Los Angeles poetry and art scenes,
publications from MacAdams' library, and memorabilia. Materials also include interviews and
transcripts for his book
The Birth of The Cool: Beat, Bebop, and the
American Avant-Garde
about the cultural history of the idea of cool, and materials
related to his unpublished biography of
Rolling Stone
magazine founder Jann Wenner. This collection contains scripts for television and film
projects, including material related to his documentary
What Happened
to Kerouac?
and other video projects in collaboration with EZTV founder John Dorr,
as well as a near-complete run of
WET magazine, for which
MacAdams was editor from 1980-82. Audiovisual materials include interviews by MacAdams,
television and movie projects, and performances.
This collection has been arranged in the following series based on preservation of the
existing order and the imposition of an intellectual order:
- 1. Writing by MacAdams
- 2. Correspondence
- 3. FoLAR files
- 4. Performance materials
- 5. Publications
- 6. Memorabilia
Friends of the Los Angeles River records,
1987-2013 (Collection 2215).
Available at UCLA Library Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Alexandra Garrett Papers and Records of the
Beyond Baroque Foundation, 1965-1991 (Collection 1615).
Available at UCLA Library
Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los
Angeles.
Aram Saroyan Papers, 1965-1989 (Collection
991).
Available at UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Wanda Coleman papers, 1960-2013 (Collection
2282).
Available at UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Allan H. Kurtzman Collection of Material about
Beat Writers and Artists, ca. 1950-1989 (Collection 362).
Available at UCLA
Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California,
Los Angeles.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Civic leaders -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archives.
Authors, American -- 20th century -- Archives.
Friends of the Los Angeles River
MacAdams , Lewis -- Archives
- Collection Overview
-
Collection Details
- Conditions Governing Access
- Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
- Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
- Preferred Citation
- Provenance/Source of Acquisition
- Processing Information
- UCLA Catalog Record ID
- Biography/History
- Scope and Content
- Organization and Arrangement
- Related Material