Collection Summary
Information for Researchers
Administrative Information
Biographical Chronology
Scope and Content
Alphabetical Index to Poetry
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Mark O'Brien Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1968-1999, n.d.
Collection Number: BANC MSS 99/247 c
Creator:
O'Brien, Mark,
1949-1999
Extent:
Number of containers: 6 boxes, 1 oversize folder
Linear feet: 2.5
2 digital objects
Repository: The
Bancroft Library.
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Abstract: Consists of the body of O'Brien's professional work as a poet and journalist. The papers include unpublished and published
poems, books, articles, short stories, and speeches, as well as O'Brien's undergraduate and graduate school assignments.
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Languages Represented:
English
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft
Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which
must also be obtained by the reader.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Mark O'Brien Papers, BANC MSS 99/247 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Related Collections
"Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien," VIDEO/C 4841 in Moffitt Library Media Center, U.C. Berkeley.
Additional related collections may be found under the corporate author heading, "Disabled Persons' Independence Movement,"
in U.C. Berkeley's online catalog.
Material Cataloged Separately
Photographs
have been transferred to the Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Poliomyelitis.
Iron lung.
Euthanasia.
People with disabilities.
Authors, American--California--Berkeley.
Journalists--California--Berkeley.
Poets, American--California--Berkeley.
People with disabilities--Sexual behavior.
College students with disabilities--California--Berkeley.
People with disabilities in literature.
People with disabilities and the arts.
Genres and Forms of Material
Poems.
Autobiographies.
Eulogies.
Erotica.
Manuscripts for publication.
Index Terms Related to this Collection
Online Archive of California.
Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement collection.
Administrative Information
Provenance
The Mark O'Brien Papers were given to The Bancroft Library by Mark O'Brien in increments over the period of April 1998 through
March 1999. Additional materials were received in March 2000.
Biographical Chronology
1949 |
Born to Helen Agnes Kelly and Walter O'Brien, Boston, Mass. |
1951 |
Brother Kenneth born. |
1953 |
Sister Karen born. |
1955 |
Contracts poliomyelitis and is comatose for thirty days. Spends the next two years in Children's Hospital and Wellesley Convalescent
Hospital.
|
1961 |
Karen dies of pneumonia. |
1963 |
Has spinal fusion surgery. Sister Rachel born. |
1966 |
O'Brien family moves to Sacramento, Calif. |
1968 |
Receives high school diploma. |
1976 |
Moves to Kaiser Hospital, Vallejo, Calif., for physical therapy in preparation for attending the University of California
at Berkeley as part of the Disabled Students Program. Transfers to Fairmont Hospital in San Leandro, Calif.
|
1977 |
Begins course work at California State University, Hayward in January. |
1978 |
Accepted to U.C. Berkeley in June. Moves into Davidson Hall, a campus dormitory. |
1979 |
Moves to an apartment off-campus. |
1980 |
Acquires first electric wheelchair. |
1982 |
Graduates from U.C. Berkeley with a B.A. in English literature in June. Begins graduate studies at U.C. Berkeley's School
of Journalism. Publishes first article, "How I Became A Human Being," in
CoEvolution Quarterly.
|
1983 |
Leaves graduate school. Begins professional career as a journalist and poet. O'Brien writes for the Pacific News Service and
contributes to
CoEvolution Quarterly
(which later becomes
Whole Earth Review),
The Disability Rag,
The Fessenden Review,
Frisko,
Margin,
Mouth: the voice of disability,
San Francisco Chronicle,
San Francisco Examiner,
and
The Sun,
among others.
|
1988-1993 |
Receives grants from the Ingram Merrill Foundation; concentrates on writing poetry. |
1990 |
Publishes first edition of
Breathing: Poems by Mark O'Brien.
|
1994 |
Cover story of the July 31
Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine
is devoted to O'Brien. Helen O'Brien dies in September.
|
1995 |
Works with documentary film maker Jessica Yu. The film, "Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien," premieres
in December.
|
1996 |
Berkeley City Council declares Mark O'Brien Day on August 3. |
1997 |
"Breathing Lessons" wins an Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Best Documentary Short Subject
in March. O'Brien delivers commencement speech for U.C. Berkeley's Department of English in May.
|
1999 |
Dies in his home in Berkeley on July 4, from complications of bronchitis. |
Scope and Content
The Mark O'Brien Papers, 1968-1999, consist of the body of O'Brien's professional work as a poet and journalist. The papers
include unpublished and published poems, books, articles, short stories, and speeches, as well as O'Brien's undergraduate
and graduate school assignments.
O'Brien contracted poliomyelitis when he was six years old and relied on an iron lung to help him breathe for much of the
rest of his life. He strove to live life on his own terms, attending the University of California, Berkeley and earning a
bachelor's degree in English. O'Brien attended U.C. Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism for a year but did not complete
a degree. After leaving the School of Journalism, O'Brien worked as a journalist and poet. Because O'Brien could not use his
hands, his drafts are typescripts (he could type using a mouth stick). Some of his work was dictated; some of his school assignments
were transcribed by note takers and attendants.
O'Brien's poetry demonstrates a wide range of subject matter, tone, and form. His poems range from explorations of the most
personal issues of his own life, to musings about baseball and spoofs of his favorite television shows. He also experimented
with a variety of poetic forms: sonnets, haiku, free verse, and limericks are represented in his work.
O'Brien's prose also covers a broad range of subject matter, tone, and form. Early in his career he experimented with writing
a political novel,
The Contender; in 1997, he finished his autobiography,
How I Became a Human Being. O'Brien's articles include some of his journalistic work, including his interview with Stephen Hawking and his ground breaking
account drawn from his own experience, "On Seeing a Sex Surrogate." His short stories range from fictionalized autobiography
to science fiction. O'Brien's speeches include the eulogy he wrote for his mother, the speech he gave for the English Department
commencement at U.C. Berkeley in 1997, and a speech he gave to the employees at the law firm of Littler, Mendelson (where
his brother Kenneth is an attorney) after "Breathing Lessons," the short documentary film about his life, won the Academy
Award in 1997. O'Brien also wrote reviews of books, journals, and products.
O'Brien's early beginnings as a writer can be traced through his work at California State University, Hayward and U.C. Berkeley.
Some of the themes he explored in his school assignments he continued to develop as a professional writer. O'Brien's life
and the meaning he held for others is amply demonstrated by the eulogies written by his brother, Kenneth, and film maker Jessica
Yu, director of "Breathing Lessons."
O'Brien's papers do not include records from his personal life, such as correspondence or records from his childhood and family,
although the autobiographical nature of some of his writings does give much information about his personal life. O'Brien is
remembered not only as a writer of great talent but also as an inspiration to disabled people seeking to lead independent
lives.
Alphabetical Index to Poetry
A
-
Title |
Date |
The Accidental Death of Joan Burroughs |
1984 |
Accidental Meter |
1981 |
Accounting 101 |
1990 |
Afghandistan [sic] |
April 1982 |
After Karen's Party |
n.d. |
Almost a Boy |
n.d. |
America is Back, Standing Tall |
April 1988 |
American Ruins |
January 1992 |
Amnesia |
March 1988 |
An Amputated Childhood |
April 1982 |
and the radio goes |
February 1980 |
Another Poem for Jan |
August 1980 |
A.M. |
October 1981 |
The Archer on the Avenue |
June 1984 |
Asian Wisdom |
May 1998 |
At Midnight [and] Campus Musicians |
November 1983 |
The Attraction |
November 1984, August 1985 |
Auf Lederhosen |
May 1984 |
August |
October 1994 |
B
-
Title |
Date |
Beautiful Women |
December 1991 |
Becoming Her |
December 1992 |
Being Lifted |
November 1985 |
Bete-noires [sic] |
April 1988 |
Betrayed |
July 1988 |
Beyond Words |
n.d. |
Bionic Man |
n.d. |
A Birthday Poem for a Midsummer Night's Dream Queen |
1995 |
The Blue Ink Hassle |
March 1982 |
Boston and Vicinities |
April 1987 |
Boucher |
n.d. |
Breathing |
September 1988 |
Buffaloes |
September 1997 |
Bulletins |
February 1988 |
The Bunny on the Warner Brothers Shield |
April 1989 |
C
-
Title |
Date |
Campus at Night |
n.d. |
Can Poetry Matter? |
March 1994 |
Carla |
March 1984 |
Cats |
February 1998 |
The Child of Debby and Brian |
April 1986 |
Child's Song |
February, April, June 1985 |
Christina |
February 1982 |
The Closing of the West |
February 1982 |
Cockroaches |
December 1987, February 1988 |
Colors of the Day |
April 1988 |
The Commercials are Frightening |
December 1993 |
Communism in the Rain |
October 1991 |
Computer Poem |
January 1989 |
"Concerned Catholics" |
n.d. |
Country of Origin |
May 1986 |
Creations |
July 1995 |
Cronkite |
September 1988 |
Crossing the Wall |
May 1995 |
D
-
Title |
Date |
Danielle |
October 1981, January 1982 |
The Day After I Go Out |
June 1992 |
The Days |
December 1985 |
Death of Kong |
December 1987 |
A Dialogue with Judy |
September 1980 |
Didja Hear About . . .? |
April 1992 |
The Dirty Little Secret of Western Civ |
November 1996 |
The Disappearance |
July 1987 |
Disappointment |
1983 |
Division |
1991 |
Dos Equis |
April 1988 |
A Dream of Lesbians |
December 1992 |
Dreamother |
March 1997 |
The Drifter |
n.d. |
E
-
Title |
Date |
Earth |
October 1997 |
The Ecstasy of Seeing Crowds |
1984 |
Election Night, 1984 . . . |
November 1994 |
The Emergency |
December 1988 |
The End of Summer |
October 1986 |
The Enemy |
March 1986 |
Eschatology Rap |
March 1991 |
The Explorers |
February 1982 |
F
-
Title |
Date |
February Blues |
February 1993 |
Femininity |
December 1992 |
For Clifford Bernel |
September 1980, January 1982 |
For John Berryman, 1913-1971 |
June 1998 |
fragment #1 |
April 1990 |
fragment #2 |
April 1990 |
fragment #3 |
April 1990 |
fragment #4 |
April 1990 |
A Free Hand |
February-April 1986 |
Free Man Liberates Paris |
July 1996 |
The French Attendant's Question |
November 1984 |
G
-
Title |
Date |
good morning america |
July 1986 |
The Good Years |
March 1992 |
The Gospel According to a Confused Passerby |
June 1988 |
Graduation Day |
n.d. |
Gratitude |
July 1988 |
The Great War |
June 1988 |
Greg |
November 1981 |
Grey |
September 1990 |
The Guys in My Hospital Room |
November 1984 |
H
-
Title |
Date |
Haiku, Group One |
November 1985 |
Haiku, Group Two |
April 1986 |
Hanging On By |
n.d. |
Hank Makes the Call |
n.d. |
Healing |
July 1986 |
Heisenberg's Dream |
January 1987 |
Hero |
n.d. |
The Hero's Journey |
September 1997 |
Hood |
July 1992 |
How I Survived Childhood |
October 1995 |
How to Operate Your Futon Frame |
[1996] |
Humble Ambitions |
December 1996 |
I
-
Title |
Date |
I Love Ricky: A Television Revision |
November 1993 |
I Met a Man Who Tried to Sell Me; Ives's Second Symphony; I Think That I Shall Never Write; Prufrock Visits Yankee Stadium;
Intelligence; Funeral Wishes
|
May 1982 |
If |
June 1997 |
If Berkeley is a City by the Bay |
n.d. |
Imported Nobility |
November 1981 |
In Bishop Berkeley's Town |
July 1986 |
In December, the Fan Looks Forward to Spring |
December 1982 |
Information |
November 1993 |
In Saint Catherine's Home for the Hopelessly Crippled |
1987 |
Iron Lung Blues |
May 1995 |
J
-
Title |
Date |
Jingle |
June 1994 |
Joaquin |
March 1982 |
Journal |
October 1993 |
Journal Entry |
November 1996 |
Journey |
February 1993 |
Judy, 1977 |
November 1994 |
K
-
Title |
Date |
Karen |
January 1984 |
KCBS |
August 1981 |
Kennedy |
October 1994 |
Kilgore Trout's Long Planned Revenge [and excerpts] |
1990 |
Kira's Song |
October 1997 |
L
-
Title |
Date |
Laboratory |
June 1986 |
laid back |
June 1981 |
The Last Request of Robert Kennedy |
September 1980 |
The Laughter of Death |
May 1995 |
Learning How to Drive Again |
October 1981 |
Leavetaking |
July 1993 |
Lennon |
1982 |
Lessons |
March 1998 |
letter to a social worker |
1991 |
Lifestyles of the Blind and Paralyzed |
April 1991 |
Limerick #1 |
June 1984 |
Limerick #2-6 |
November 1985 |
Limon |
November 1981 |
Linda, 1983 |
February 1993 |
Listening to KPFA on a Sunday Morning |
January 1992 |
Love Poem for No One in Particular |
July 1987 |
The Lovers |
July 1997, July 1994 |
M
-
Title |
Date |
Magic Number |
December 1987 |
The Mail |
November 1986 |
The Man in the Iron Lung |
March 1988 |
Map |
November 1994 |
Marlene |
July 1993 |
Martha's Promise |
n.d. |
Mary Lea and the Sixteenth of July |
November 1981 |
Mary Lea, 1979 |
March 1994 |
Metromania |
November 1981 |
Mickey |
January 1994 |
Miguel |
March 1982 |
Mister Death |
December 1991 |
Mrs. Garcia |
January 1982 |
Mrs. Stephens |
1983 |
Moon |
December 1997 |
The Morning Routine |
January 1990 |
Murder Will In |
September 1989 |
My Kitchen |
August 1980 |
My Last Jan Poem |
January 1987 |
My Mobile |
July 1980 |
My Mouthstick |
April 1992 |
My Other Life |
January 1995 |
N
-
Title |
Date |
The News |
June 1997 |
Night Strike |
November 1985 |
Nina |
March 1984 |
Nixon: A Zombie Romance |
June 1989 |
No, We Weren't Lovers |
August 1995 |
November Twenty-third |
November 1986 |
O
-
Title |
Date |
Object of Desire |
July 1995 |
The Oliver North Story, Starring Charlie Sheen |
February 1989 |
On My Pillow |
February 1994 |
on telegraph |
n.d. |
One Nation |
August 1995 |
The Orange County Tales |
January 1987 |
Out of Place |
October 1981 |
P
-
Title |
Date |
The Package |
May 1992 |
A Panda's Universe |
November 1984 |
Passive Voice |
n.d. |
Patmos |
October 1990 |
Pearl |
December 1980 |
The Peasant's Poetry |
October 1981 |
Pegasus |
n.d. |
Peter Sellers was the Wrong Actor |
November 1983 |
Phonetic Frenetic Poetic |
April 1998 |
Photo Album |
April 1984 |
Picnic |
July 1988 |
A Poem for a Wedding |
December 1980 |
A Poem for Alicia |
February 1995 |
A Poem for Avril |
June 1982 |
A Poem for Debby |
June 1980 |
A Poem for Jan |
August 1980 |
A Poem for the Dream Queen Written Upon the Occasion of April Fool's Day |
n.d. |
A Poem for the Dream Queen Written Upon the Occasion of March |
n.d. |
A Poem for the Dream Queen Written Upon the Occasion of May (
see Rough Wind Do Shake the Darling Buds of May)
|
1995 |
A Poem for the Dream Queen Written Upon the Occasion of the Feast Day of Saint Valentine |
1995 |
A Poem for the Dream Queen Written Upon the Occasion of the First Anniversary of Her Manifestation to Picasso Man |
n.d. |
Poetry's Progress |
November 1981 |
Por Enio y Becky |
January 1987 |
A Portrait of the Lady |
July 1995 |
The Punishment Lady |
May 1995 |
Q
-
Title |
Date |
Questions I Feared the Journalist Would Ask |
October 1994 |
Questions of a Descendant |
n.d. |
R
-
Title |
Date |
Rachel's Patient |
n.d. |
Rainy Day |
November 1981 |
Randomness |
December 1984 |
rant 1/14/90 |
January 1990 |
rant 3/16/90 |
March 1990 |
rant 1.9.91 |
January 1991 |
Reactions |
February 1986 |
Red Sox |
June 1997 |
Remembering Her |
June 1998 |
Reruns |
April 1998 |
Reverie |
March 1982 |
Rob's Song |
November 1997 |
The Rockefeller Loop |
n.d. |
Rough Winds Do Shake the Darling Buds of May: A Poem for the Dream Queen Written Upon the Occasion of May |
1995 |
The Rower |
March 1987 |
Rules |
December 1988 |
Running |
May 1995 |
S
-
Title |
Date |
Saint Patrick's Day |
1984 |
Ste. Anne de Beaupré; The Boston and Nevada Sandwich Trading Company, Inc. |
January 1982 |
SF to Crack Down on People |
September 1988 |
Scene of the Accident |
n.d. |
Serial Killer |
July 1986 |
Shattuck Avenue in Time of War |
January 1991 |
Shreds and Threads |
June 1985 |
Sidewalk Cafe at Night |
August 1985 |
Single Helix and WimWam Go to the Movies |
May 1997 |
Sir: |
n.d. |
Snake |
October 1991 |
Social Security Becomes User Friendly |
April 1998 |
A Song for the Child of Brenduchka and Avico |
1983 |
A Song of Joy |
December 1980 |
Sonnet #1 |
March 1993 |
Sonnet #2 |
March 1993 |
Sonnet #3 |
n.d. |
Sonnet #4 |
n.d. |
Stalker |
April 1986 |
Star-Gazer |
April 1982 |
Steve and Harry Do the Game |
December 1996 |
Stir |
February 1992 |
Streetperson |
December 1989 |
Strike Out |
May 1997 |
Success |
December 1996 |
Suggestions for My Obituary |
April 1998 |
Sunlight |
February 1987 |
The Supreme Soviet Views "Coming Home" |
September 1988 |
Surfaces |
April 1984 |
T
-
Title |
Date |
Talents |
February 1992 |
A Test of Nerve |
n.d. |
They Take Paradise |
November 1989 |
This is the Poem You Are Now Reading |
March 1992 |
This must be '47, there she is! |
April 1984 |
Three Reasons to Live |
May 1995 |
The Three Stooges Meet Ronald Reagan and Learn Arabic |
July 1987 |
A Time for Cursing |
July 1988 |
Tongue |
June 1991 |
Travels with Jo |
June 1991 |
The Trees |
June 1981 |
The Trees; The Infinite Improbability Device |
June 1981 |
Trio |
n.d. |
Trixie |
January 1981 |
Two Cats |
February 1988 |
Two Sisters |
June 1997 |
U
-
Title |
Date |
Unexpected Visitors |
July 1986 |
Unreconstructed |
November 1994 |
V
-
Title |
Date |
A Valentine for Susan |
n.d. |
Variations on I Wish I Could Kill Myself |
February 1992 |
Victim |
April 1992 |
Victory Chant |
September [1991?] |
Visions of the Nation-State in Decline |
February 1994 |
W
-
Title |
Date |
Walkers |
March 1992 |
Wall Street Week |
October 1987 |
Walled In |
December 1983 |
Wally Shows the Beaver How To Jerk Off |
January 1989 |
Waltz |
September 1993 |
Watching Television |
November 1986 |
WELL Renga #1 |
December 1986 |
WELL Renga #2 |
n.d |
Wesley |
November 1996 |
What can you do with a pain in the gut
[and other poems]
|
September 1982 |
What's This Noise Inside My Head? |
May 1985 |
What Plato Thought |
February 1984 |
Wheelchair |
May 1998 |
When He's Out of the Tank, He's Out of His Mind |
April 1998 |
When I Saw You on the Today Show |
December 1997 |
When You Enter |
September 1996 |
Whistling |
April 1993 |
Who Rules America? |
March 1995 |
Why I Love Classical Music |
July 1995 |
Why is It? |
June 1997 |
WimWam and Single Helix Discuss the Old Days |
March 1998 |
WimWam and Single Helix Talk Dirty |
November 1997 |
A Word Collage for Mary Lea |
n.d. |
Words Frequently Seen in Poems |
April 1987 |
Writing Poetry |
1982 |
Y
-
Title |
Date |
Your Absence |
November 1981 |
Z
-
Title |
Date |
Zeno's Paradox Denied |
February 1984 |