Comedian, actor, POET Nipsey Russell died this Sunday at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. He was 80 and lived in Manhattan (damn, if we knew he was nearby we would have invited him to our readings! damn!). Russell is one of several celebs from the '60s-'70s era of TV who passed away recently (I suspect government conspiracy, or a new reality show by Mark Burnett), and his passing in particular marks another loss in terms of class and classic and smart humor. Russell brought poetry to the masses. No doubt he will never get props from the likes of highbrows such as John Ashbery or Rita Dove or Sharon Olds, but his poetry reached more people and entertained more people than all of them put together. When we started our site, we linked to Nipsey Russell's Funky Palace, and we've always lamented the fact that the site (which may be his official site--who knows?? there is no nipseyrussell.com) featured very few Russell poems. But fortunately some of his obits have included some of the master's chestnuts:
"Before we lose our autonomy
And our economy crumbles into dust
We should attack Japan, lose the war
And let Japan take care of us."
Another:
"The opposite of pro is con
That fact is clearly seen
If progress means move forward
Then what does Congress mean"
In 1993 Russell told the Los Angeles Times that writing poems ''is very simple to do.... I start with the joke line and write backward.''
On that note, I've tried a meager eulogy:
Nipsey Russell is dead and gone
he's rhymed for the last time
but we will always give you props
you are a god of asinine
2 comments:
Nipsey, Nipsey, Nipsey
You could always rhyme
You were wonderful on Match Game
How you competed with Richard Dawson, Charles Nelson Reilly and Brett Somers
They may have gotten the spotlight but you were a poet
And this from site pal Gary Sussman:
From "Car 54" to "Hollywood Squares"
Nipsey Russell always made us laugh.
Let's hope he had time, before he passed on,
To compose a quatrain epitaph.
Post a Comment