|
D.R. Wagner passed away
on December 22nd, 2023 in Sacramento, CA. He was the author of over
twenty books and chapbooks of poetry and letters. Born in Niagra Falls,
NY on November 22, 1943, he went on to create press : today : niagara,
in Niagara Falls, NY in 1965 and later Runcible Spoon (press) in
the late 1960’s, producing over fifty magazines and chapbooks. He
co-wrote The Egyptian Stroboscope with d.a. levy in the late
1960’s and in a legendary reading at Sacramento State College in 1969,
he read with Jim Morrison of the Doors and Michael McClure. He has read
with Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Al Winans, Viola Weinberg, d.a. levy, E.R.
Baxter III, Ed Sanders, Anne Waldman and many other poets over the past
40 years.
His work was
much-published and appeared in numerous translations. He exhibited
visual poetry with William Burroughs, Byron Gysin, Ian Hamilton Finlay,
bp Nichol, bill bissett, J.F. Bory, and John Furnival in venues ranging
from The Musee de Arts Decoratifs, Paris, at the Louvre, to the
Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
He was also a visual
artist, producing miniature needle-made tapestries that were exhibited
internationally, garnering many awards, and are included in numerous
publications and museum collections. He was, further, a professional
musician, working as a singer-songwriter and playing guitar and
keyboards with his band, Runcible Spoon, which toured England and the
Bahamas in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
He taught design at the
University of California, Davis, from 1988 to his retirement in 2015,
conducting classes in Design and Poetry in the honors program. The
Introduction To Design class he taught was a required class for all
design majors.
His most recent books
were 97 Poems (2012), The Night Market (2014),
Remembering Eternity (2014), Love Poems (2016), Storm
Footed - 101 Collected Poems (2017), and The Order Of Events
(2018), Distant Lights - a four volume collection (2021), and
Vigils (2023).
He was preceded in death
by his parents, Raymond and Mildred (Betty) Wagner, and his brother,
Robert Wagner. He is survived by his sisters, Mary Beth Wagner-Stacey
and Deborah Wagner; his brother Christopher Wagner; his daughter
Annalesa Morlock, her husband, Nick Morlock, and their children, Von
Morlock (6), Beau Morlok (4); his daughter Gabrielle Wagner, and her
partner, Josh Furnas, and their daughter, Skylar Furnas (4 months).
He is also survived by
his cousin, Marylynn Moss, and nieces Jessica Stacey, Dawn Wagner, and
Traci Wagner, and nephews Andrew Wagner, and Jonathen (JT) Wagner.
|
