Kenneth Rexroth

Herbie Butterfield (University of Essex)
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“Over and over again she stressed the importance of never allowing anyone to deter me from becoming an artist and a writer”, and of never permitting “other people to determine my life for me”. Thus almost half a century later in

An Autobiographical Novel

did Rexroth recall his mother’s deathbed gift of unconditional encouragement to her only child, the ten-year old boy who watched at her bedside during her final days and hours. It was a trust he would not betray, and they were words which would set the pattern for his future life and character: he became, from the 1920s through the 1970s, one of the most continuously energetic, resolutely independent, and subversively influential writers and cultural commentators in the United States.

As it was important to Rexroth to emphasize,

2984 words

Citation: Butterfield, Herbie. "Kenneth Rexroth". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 September 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3752, accessed 19 March 2024.]

3752 Kenneth Rexroth 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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