I will be back in Cebu in four weeks and will be meeting up with Jeff Lassen for a few soft drinks and a bite of lunch. It has been nearly a decade since we last met and some 4 or 5 years almost since he asked me to be his Literary Executor. So much has happened in that time. Yet so much hasn't happened, either. Both of us are still here. His writing is out there but without any active promotion it hasn't 'sold' a great deal although it has been downloaded and read. In fact, I point to Jeff's work when I teach classes on writing to illustrate how you can be a very good writer yet never make the 'big time'. I guess it is all about getting the right breaks. Or making them happen. It certainly has nothing, or very little to do with actual talent.
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On 'Joker', Flat Tops, Colorado 1977
Jeff Lassen
On 'Joker', Flat Tops, Colorado 1977
About 'The Lassen Legacy'
Jeff Lassen has spent sixty years of his life writing. He has created an oeuvre, or body of work, that includes stories both complete and unfinished and a wealth of poetry that tells the story of his life and his loves. As he writes the last page of this book and awaits the opening of the next he has asked me to be his 'Literary Executor'. This is an honour and a privilege. To be entrusted with a man's life work is a reward, not a burden. This Blog is the first stage of what I trust will become a worthy use for his work. I will post some of his poetry, his unfinished works and his completed stories. In time I hope to collate the poetry into a volume available both electronically and in print. His unfinished work will form the basis of a course in interpretive writing; students will take his story ideas and unfinished material and weave their own tale. They can use his ideas to emulate his style or to diverge completely. To deconstruct and rebuild from a different perspective; feminist, marxist, post-colonial, existentialist... anything at all in fact. His only request to me is that his work is made available as widely as possible for the enjoyment of whoever wishes to read and absorb his writing and his thoughts. When you read this, Jeff may have opened that next book. Whether he has or not, his writing and therefore, his soul, lives on. Writers know they put something of themselves into everything they write that they care enough about to put their name to. Jeff will live on in the hearts of those who knew and loved him and within the minds of those who, through this vehicle, have shared his work.
Looking After A Legacy
My name is Perry Gamsby. I am a married father of five and a writer. I was recently given full authority to do with as I wished the collected works of Jeff Lassen, a man I only ever met the one time. He bought me lunch and we talked at length and over the years exchanged emails. Now he is living out his final few days as cancer takes his life from him. Jeff asked me to be his Literary Executor and I agreed. I hope this Blog is the start of something more for the life's work of a talented poet and engaging story teller.
Perry Gamsby
Sydney, Australia
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