Talk:Harry Everett Smith/Archive 1

The OTO
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Can the person who added this please fix it to read like a regular sentence?

Clarification of "chronic episodes"

 * "There is photographic evidence of Harry Smith's large paintings created in the 1940s, however the works themselves were destroyed by Harry himself during a peak of one of his chronic episodes."

Chronic episodes of what? Perhaps someone knowledgeable on this topic could supply that answer and update? For now, I have removed that part of the sentence, as it seems to be understandable that way. —PaperTruths 03:10, 24 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Thank you for catching that and pointing it out. I read that sentence and did not even notice the error.  I will look this up and see what I can find. --Charles 03:14, 24 May 2006 (UTC)
 * It was undiagnosed at the time the paintings were destroyed, I believe it would be termed some sort of mania or psychosis these days, but I'm not a doctor and Smith's physicians are mum on the matter. This may be surmised by the act of destruction mentioned within the same sentence. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.163.211.168 (talk • contribs) (22:51, 2 August 2006)


 * Although this is an ancient thread, I will add that it appears that Smith was subject to periods of depression and self-loathing, not to mention substance abuse. He certainly did not look after his health.Mballen (talk) 21:14, 23 November 2013 (UTC)

Harry and Exotic Plants
Though I cannot claim authoritative knowledge of Harry's entire history, we were friends from 1975 until his death, spending a fair amount of time together while he was resident at the "beautiful" Breslin Hotel on Broadway and 29th Street. During those years, he never seemed to have the capital to conduct any kind of drug dealing venture, though he did smoke regularly. It was a ritual of scavenging sad bits of herb from little crumpled bindles and the bottom of an ash tray, salvaging twigs as often as the the tiny pinches of shake, that were all I ever saw him holding. Further, his character did not seem to me, to lend itself towards commerce, as is suggested earlier in the passage from which I have excised the undocumented suggestion regarding his ostensible drug dealing. If this was a practice that he indulged in before we met or when I wasn't around, I simply can't accept that it was a significant part of his otherwise crazy and compulsive life, and more importantly, even if somehow true, anything but a significant reflection of that life. -Eric Solstein 03:54, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Page move
This article should be moved to Harry Smith, the name by which he was most popularly known. Harry Everett Smith may have been his full name, but published works on him rarely use his middle name. ---  RepublicanJacobite  The'FortyFive' 16:49, 6 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Agreed. I was just going to mention this here, but apparently I'm not the only one who thinks so. Geert Rinkel (talk) 21:01, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

Copy Edit
This page needs major copy editing, tons of great info but you need to read some of the sentences 3 times to figure out what is being said. Ridernyc (talk) 18:41, 16 February 2010 (UTC)

Eccentric and bohemian
I removed the following from the article and bring it here for discussion.

Harry Smith would talk at great length and in extraordinary depth on topics spanning many subjects and ranges of knowledge. According to Khem Caigan, a typical chain of free association might range from, for example, the macrocosm and microcosm and the great chain of being to bioelectromagnetics and electrophysiology and the geomagnetic field and the psyche, Sylvanus Thompson and Max Knoll and the generation of phosphenes, musicology and molecular physics, parapsychology and poltergeist phenomena; the Margery and Helene Smith mediumship cases, the tarot and the Key of Solomon, Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter's Regular polytopes and the Leech lattice, his collection of 30,000 Ukrainian Easter eggs and Seminole quilts; alchemy and the Philosopher's Stone; all in an effort to demonstrate the underlying connectedness and interrelatedness of all things for his audience of the moment. On occasion, the less astute of his listeners would have trouble following his train of thought, as one subject always led on to another.

Harry often had difficulty paying his bills and had very little interest in maintaining a normal, ordered life. He would frequently borrow money which would never be paid back, money that he would often spend on records and books, even when low on essential items (such as food). On the other hand, Khem Caigan is quick to point out that Harry was generous to a fault, always springing for a much appreciated meal when he was down on his luck. It is suggested that Harry enjoyed alcohol, cannabis, Dexedrine, hashish, LSD, mescaline, peyote, psilocybin, and other entheogens on occasion.

None of this is sourced, and reads like the personal observations, or a repetition of someone else's personal observations, of Harry's behavior. As such, it cannot be allowed. Frankly, this comes across as silly, as if the intent was to belittle the man. This has to be rewritten and sourced before it is included in the article. ---  RepublicanJacobite  TheFortyFive 18:42, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

Why Harry did not use recordings after 1932 for his anthology.
Harry told me that he used only early records because he felt that when recording technology was still new the performers did not yet have a sense that they were performing for posterity, so to speak. Early recorded performances, thought Harry, still had the spontaneity of one-offs, transitory and casual. By 1932, Harry thought, performers became aware of the weighty archival nature of the medium, and therefore were more careful, which made their performances somewhat stodgier and more generic.

Incidentally, I agree that "Everett" should be removed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rev. H. Carlton Earwiggherd (talk • contribs) 13:40, 19 February 2013 (UTC)