Talk:Ahmos Zu-Bolton

Initial
My name is Johnny Gills. Ahmos and I were roomates at LSU. I am attempting to correct some misinformation about him and to add some of my memories of him. He was born Amos Bolton and carried that name while at LSU. He referred to it as his slave name and was planning to change it. Once thing about the change he knew at that time was that Bolton would continue to be part of the new name out of respect for his father.

Ahmos came in the second year of integration at LSU and was borne probably in 1947, not 1935.

I will write more later.

Date of birth
I have marked the date of birth as citation needed as his obituary does not make this clear, only giving his age at death. Here's the original text:

Ahmos Zu-Bolton II, poet, bookstore owner

By Michael Perlstein, Staff writer

METRO; Pg. 4

Ahmos Zu-Bolton II, poet, educator, literary critic and longtime owner of Copastetic Community Book Center, died March 8 of cancer at Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He was 58.

Mr. Zu-Bolton was born in Poplarville, Miss., raised in DeRidder and lived in New Orleans for more than 16 years. His Marigny Street bookstore and cultural center was a longtime gathering spot for writers, artists and community activists of all stripes. While the bookstore often struggled financially, Zu-Bolton maintained it as a rich oasis of cultural events that included poetry slams, storytelling workshops, speakeasies, theater productions and children’s events.

Mr. Zu-Bolton’s collections of poetry include "Ain’t No Spring Chicken" and "A Niggerd Amen." His work has been featured in many anthologies, journals and literary magazines, including Essence, New Orleans Review, Yardbird Reader, Callaloo and Obsidian.

Mr. Zu-Bolton often referred to his artistic style as "neo-urban folklore." As a literary ambassador and frequent lecturer on the "writer-in-residence" circuit, he brought theater festivals and poetry series to cities from Galveston, Texas, to Washington.

"He was very interested in crossing cultural and racial boundaries with his work," said local poet and Newcomb University visiting scholar Lee Grue. "He was all about community. His bookstore was a true neighborhood bookstore that brought together many different types of people and artists."

A graduate of G.W. Carver High School in DeRidder, Mr. Zu-Bolton attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge before being drafted into the Army for a four-year tour of duty in Vietnam. After the war, he received a bachelor’s degree at California Polytech, and a master of fine arts in creative writing from the University of Iowa. He was the recipient of the Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Louisiana Endowment for the Arts.

As an educator, Mr. Zu-Bolton taught at Xavier University, Tulane University, Delgado Community College, University of Missouri at Columbia and Charles Gayarre Elementary School.

He is survived by his wife, Ywenboui Zu-Bolton of Columbia, Mo.; a daughter, Amber Easter Gautier Zu-Bolton; three stepchildren, Simon, Allynthia and Candance Zu-Bolton of Columbia; four brothers; James Zu-Bolton of Philadelphia, Marvin Zu-Bolton of DeRidder, Sol Zu-Bolton of Dallas and Ravis Zu-Bolton of Mossville; and three sisters, Eartha Simon, Emma Malachi and Sachinko Hickman, all of DeRidder.

A memorial service will be held today at 7 p.m. at Community Book Center, 2523 Bayou Road in New Orleans.