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:Born February 5, 1914, St. Louis, Missouri :Died August 2, 1997, Lawrence, Kansas |
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:Born February 5, 1914, St. Louis, Missouri :Died August 2, 1997, Lawrence?, Kansas |
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William Seward Burroughs was the grandson of the founder of the Burroughs Adding Machine company, which evolved into the Burroughs Corporation. Burroughs' mother, Laura Lee Burroughs, was the daughter of a distinguished minister whose family claimed to be descendants of Robert E. Lee. |
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Author William Seward Burroughs was the grandson of the William Seward Burroughs who founded the Burroughs Adding Machine company, which evolved into the Burroughs Corporation. Burroughs' mother, Laura Lee Burroughs, was the daughter of a distinguished minister whose family claimed to be descendants of Robert E. Lee. |
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He attended Harvard University and graduated in 1936. He summarized his college experience in the prologue to Junkie, "I hated the University and I hated the town it was in. Everything about the place was dead. The University was a fake English setup taken over by the graduates of fake English public schools..." |
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He attended Harvard University and graduated in 1936. He summarized his college experience in the prologue to Junkie, "I hated the University and I hated the town it was in. Everything about the place was dead. The University was a fake English setup taken over by the graduates of fake English public schools..." |
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In 1944, Burroughs began living with Joan Vollmer in an apartment they shared with Kerouac and Edie Parker, Kerouac's first wife. Burroughs divorced his first wife, IIse Krabbe, and married Vollmer in 1946. Their son, William S. Burroughs, Jr., was born in 1947 in Texas. On September 6, 1951, Burroughs accidentally shot and killed his wife in Mexico City and was charged in with criminal imprudence. He was forced to leave Mexico in 1952 as a result of the shooting. He toured South America for several months, then settled in Tangier, Morocco, where he lived for the next twenty-four years. It was in Tangier that he began to develop what was to become a characteristic feature of his writing after Brion Gysin introduced him to the cut-up technique. |
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In 1944, Burroughs began living with Joan Vollmer in an apartment they shared with Kerouac and Edie Parker, Kerouac's first wife. Burroughs divorced his first wife, IIse Krabbe, and married Vollmer in 1946. Their son, William S. Burroughs, Jr., was born in 1947 in Texas. On September 6, 1951 in Mexico City, Burroughs accidentally shot and killed his wife during a drunken attempt to imitate [William Tell]?'s feat of shooting an apple off his son's head and was charged with criminal imprudence. He was forced to leave Mexico in 1952 as a result of the shooting. He toured South America for several months, then settled in Tangier?, Morocco, where he lived for the next twenty-four years. It was in Tangier that he began to develop what was to become a characteristic feature of his writing after Brion Gysin introduced him to the cut-up technique. |
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In 1956, Burroughs attempted to cure his ongoing drug addiction with the help of John Dent, a London physician. After completing treatment, he finished <i>Naked Lunch,/i> with the help of Ginsberg and Kerouac. After it was published, the book was prosecuted as obscene by the state of Massachusetts, followed by other states forcing the book to be published in Italy. In 1966 the Massachusetts Supreme Court declared the work "not obscene" based on criteria developed, largely, to defend the book. This opened the door for others works like Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer, James Joyce's Ulysses, and D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterly's Lover, to be published in the United States. |
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In 1956, Burroughs attempted to cure his ongoing drug addiction with the help of John Dent, a London physician. After completing treatment, he finished Naked Lunch, with the help of Ginsberg and Kerouac. After it was published, the book was prosecuted as obscene by the state of Massachusetts, followed by other states forcing the book to be published in [Italy]]. In 1966 the Massachusetts Supreme Court declared the work "not obscene" based on criteria developed, largely, to defend the book. This opened the door for others works like Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer, James Joyce's Ulysses, and D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterly's Lover, to be published in the United States. |
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In the 1970s he moved back to New York City where he was sought out by a diverse cast of New York cultural players, including Andy Warhol and [Mick Jagger]?. |
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In the 1970s he moved back to New York City where he was sought out by a diverse cast of New York cultural players, including Andy Warhol and [Mick Jagger]?. |
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