Terry knew and read a tremendous amount of
poetry, and had much wider interests than me, even though I write poems. He was
particularly interested in Ian Hamilton, and poetry associated with his circle,
and was really pleased when a posthumous big collected volume of him came out
and he got a chance to review it in London Magazine, where over the last
at least four years, and possibly more, he had had become a regular. He liked too Craig Raine, Derek Mahon, Seamus Heaney
and Hugo Williams, and was able to review his then latest volume (I
Knew The Bride), weaving into it a skilful, knowledgeable round up of Hugo's
whole career and technique and development. Recently he had reviewed Clive James
The Kid From Kogarah, and poetry by David Harsent and Robin Robertson, and the
big T S Eliot collected volume so eagerly awaited by aficionados. In his early
reporter life he worked with and later championed a poet called Barry McSweeney,
also a huge Bob fan, who had a difficult life but produced a lot of poetry.
Terry was involved in a memorial type volume for him, including essays. He
really did know an awful lot and liked an awful lot.
Of late he was really proud of the London
Magazine work because at first I think it was for nothing but developed into him
being a rated and paid reviewer. He knew the whole modern British and American
poetry scene very well. He liked what was the Hamilton template, the short,
slightly obtuse lyric, but was also way open to modern American forms. He was
endlessly getting books and telling you of his haul, either as review freebies
or what he'd bought. Poetry totally engaged him. In some ways the literary life
seemed more real to him than actual life, which was probably a help in the trial
of his last fourteen months. He had also recently starting reviewing for a newish
thing called The Next Review and was very pleased about that.
A major poetic interest, too, was the work of Philip Larkin. He wrote articles for About Larkin, the journal concerned with Larkin's work and life, reviewing there and elsewhere new Collected editions, and writing knowledgeably about the choices different editors of the volumes made. One of his most recent reviews was of the new book of photographs taken by Philip Larkin, and the connection that could be made with his poems.
I should say too he was always very kind. I think that was a big aspect of
his character. He was a networker and a giver, and, that old-fashioned word, a
gentleman. Unasked for and unexpected at different times he gave me various
books that he knew I would like. He did love Bob Dylan and his work and thought
he was a genius, and probably didn't think plagiarism was relevant to whether he
was or not, unlike me, but he knew and was interested in everything poetic
really. I mean everything. He was much more than someone who was crucial to a
Bob Dylan magazine [The Bridge]. Though of course he was always that.
_____
