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Petersen (Robert M.) papers
MS.337
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Table of contents
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
The collection is open for research.
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.
Robert M. Petersen Papers, MS 337. Special Collections and Archives, University Library,
University of California, Santa Cruz.
This collection was donated in 2010 by Alan Trist. Additional materials were donated by
Richard Wilcox in 2012.
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.
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Petersen served two prison terms; his first produced the unpublished chapbook "Blue Petre,"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.
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.
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.
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)