Carroll shares stories at ULV

by Gloria Diaz
Assistant Editor

Jim Carroll made the audience, of about 50 University of La Verne students and faculty, laugh while sharing stories indicating a familiarity with drugs, alcohol and vermin.

The author of "The Basketball Diaries" documentary and founder of the Jim Carroll Band spoke at the ULV April 25. He shared his experiences through reading excerpts from his books and poetry at the Associated Student Federation Forum-sponsored event.

Clad in a black sportscoat, black T-shirt and blue jeans, Carroll's self-deprecating humor created an easy mood, while he talked about his tough times in California.

Carroll's poetry was vivid and personal, including one about an experience of throwing up after a night of too much alcohol.

In his first few months of living in California, Carroll had an encounter with a roach in his apartment, which he included in a poem.

He also shared stories of the people he met while living in New York and California.

And he expressed how he felt moving from one coast to the other and how it related to his experiences with drugs and alcohol.

"After I was clean I went back to New York. When I was there I realized I only went back to prove to myself that I could stay clean in New York," Carroll said.

What made the audience laugh most was a letter Carroll picked up in a recording studio from rap artist Tupac Shakur. Carroll met Shakur at the recording studio. When the rapper was walking out, a letter fell from his back pocket, so Carroll picked it up.

The letter had been intended for a girlfriend and according to the letter he was apparently very fond of her body.

"Maybe I should sell it on Ebay," Carroll joked.

In an excerpt from his upcoming book Carroll writes about King Kong and the Empire State Building.

"The Sears Tower in Chicago, the World Trade Center, none of them ever had the great Kong hanging off its side," he explains. "There would be taller buildings but none of them could touch the majesty, the history, the prophecies within the limestone of the Empire State Building."

Upon he request of an audience member, Carroll sang a song he wrote with his Jim Carroll Band.

"Jim Carroll was really influential in the punk movement. He was friends with Andy Warhol," said Kristy Roberts, a sophomore who plans to write her senior thesis on the punk movement as a religion. "His songs with his band greatly influenced the punk movement of today."

During a question and answer session following the talk, someone asked Carroll about his memories of Joey Ramone of the pioneering punk rock band the Ramones.

"I thought he was going to outlive us all and then he got this cancer, its just sad that they got inducted into the hall of fame without having Joey there," Carroll said. "The Ramones had the whole [punk rock] thing down."

Said Roberts: "I think that it's sad in our culture that just because a genius is often met with diversity its not often recognized. I'm really glad that (Carroll's) genius has been recognized to the point where he can come to a school like ULV and people can appreciate his work and appreciate what he does."