Our dear friend and mentor David Henderson is facing some challenges and we ask you to step up and contribute to this fundraiser for him, to support him now as he has supported and given us so much for so many years.
Poet, biographer, writer of songs, educator, co-founder of Umbra, and a true encyclopedia of what has been most vital in our culture, David has been present in ways we can hardly begin to recount.
From his work as co-editor and editor of Umbra in the early 1960s, to his first book of poetry, Felix of the Silent Forest (published by Diane di Prima in 1967), and then his landmark biography of Jimi Hendrix—with editions over three decades—David’s relationships to working artists have spanned the gamut from writers and musicians, to actors, filmmakers, dancers, visual artists, and everyone else involved in the making and production of different forms of art.
His work as an educator and activist—importantly during the struggle for Open Admissions at City College, CUNY, in the Harlem he grew up in—has left a mark on generations of students, readers, and listeners. And his dedication to the poem itself has served as an example to so many of us.
While his family and friends have rallied to his support in every way possible, with immense gratitude for your consideration, we ask that you join our efforts to see David through to better times ahead. We ask that you be as generous as you can, as generous as David has always been with his time, his knowledge, and his inimitable spirit.
All contributions will go into an account exclusively earmarked for David’s needs, with the full cooperation and oversight of his family.
From all of us, Thank You!
Lost & Found: The CUNY Poetics Document Initiative
Bowery Arts & Science
A Gathering of the Tribes
The Poetry Project
The Poetry Center, San Francisco State University
Cave Canem Foundation
Poets House
City Lights Booksellers & Publishers
Before Columbus Foundation
Poetry Society of America
