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Petersen served two prison terms; his first produced the unpublished chapbook "Blue Petre,"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)
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.
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.
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.
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.