Meat Poet
Richmond began publishing poetry in 1964, when Wormwood Review accepted eight of his poems. Many of his books of poetry were self-published as he was a difficult and contentious person to deal with, as he was a serious user of narcotics. Addicted to heroin for 40 years, he finally kicked the habit three years before his death. One of his proposed prose books was about his relationship with Jim Morrison (Richmond's style influenced the poetry written by the front man of The Doors), but the publisher backed out.
He developed a unique style based on the rhythms of gagaku (雅楽, literally "elegant music"), the Shinto-influenced classical music performed at the Japanese imperial court. Richmond heard gagaku music on records at U.C.L.A.'s Department of Ethnomusicology. In a 2009 interview with writer Ben Pleasants, Richmond claimed he had written an estimated 8,000-9,000 gagaku poems.
Richmond eventually inherited $2 million, which he lived on, eventually spending all the money after a dozen years in which he nursed his heroin addiction. He eventually wound up in Santa Monica’s homeless shelter, which combined with a hospital stay, helped him kick his habit.
Read more about this topic: Steve Richmond (poet)
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