Jim Carroll

For other people named James Carroll, see James Carroll (disambiguation).

Jim Carroll
Carroll in Seattle in 2000
Born	James Dennis Carroll (1949-08-01)August 1, 1949 U.S.
Died	September 11, 2009(2009-09-11) (aged 60) New York, New York
Nationality	American
Occupation(s)	Author, Poet, Musician, Autobiographer
Years active	1967–2009
Known for	The Basketball Diaries

James Dennis "Jim" Carroll (August 1, 1949 – September 11, 2009) was an author, poet, autobiographer, and punk musician. Carroll was best known for his 1978 autobiographical work The Basketball Diaries, which was made into the 1995 film of the same name, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Carroll.

Biography

Carroll was of Irish descent and attended Roman Catholic grammar schools from 1955 to 1963. In fall 1963, he entered public school, but was soon awarded a scholarship to the elite private school Trinity School (New York). He entered Trinity High School in 1964.

Apart from being interested in writing, Carroll was an all-star basketball player throughout his grade school and high school career. He entered the "Biddy League" at age 13 and participated in the National High School All Star Game in 1966. During this time, Carroll was living a double life as a heroin addict who prostituted himself to afford his habit, but was also writing poems and attending poetry workshops at St. Mark's Poetry Project.

He attended Wagner College and Columbia University.

Literary career

Carroll attracted the attention of the local literati and published his first book Organic Trains at age 17. Several of his poems have been published in such magazines as Paris Review and Poetry. In 1970, his second collection of poems, 4 Ups and 1 Down was published, and he started working for Andy Warhol. At first, he was writing film dialogue and inventing character names; later on, Carroll worked as the co-manager of Warhol's Theater. Carroll's first publication by a mainstream publisher (Grossman Publishers), the poetry collection Living At The Movies, was published in 1973.

In 1978, Carroll authored The Basketball Diaries, an autobiographical book concerning his life as a teenager in New York City's hard drug culture. Diaries is an edited collection of the diaries he kept between the ages of twelve and sixteen, detailing his sexual experiences, high school basketball career, and his addiction to heroin, which began when he was 13.

After working as a musician, Carroll returned to writing full time in the mid-1980s and began to appear regularly on the spoken word circuit. Since 1991, Carroll has performed readings from his unfinished first novel, tentatively titled The Petting Zoo.

Music career

Also in 1978, Carroll formed The Jim Carroll Band, a New Wave/punk rock group, with encouragement from Patti Smith. The band was formerly called Amsterdam, based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The musicians were Steve Linsley (bass), Wayne Woods (drums), Brian Linsley and Terrell Winn (guitars). They released a single "People Who Died", from their 1980 debut album, Catholic Boy, the album featured contributions from Allen Lanier and Bobby Keys. The song appeared in the 1982 blockbuster film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, as well as 2004's Dawn of the Dead, and was covered by John Cale on his Antártida soundtrack. Later albums were Dry Dreams (1982) and I Write Your Name (1983), both with contributions from Lenny Kaye and Paul Sanchez. Carroll has also collaborated with musicians Lou Reed, Blue Öyster Cult, Boz Scaggs, Ray Manzarek of The Doors, Pearl Jam, ELO and Rancid. The song was based on a poem by Ted Berrigan.

People Who Died Lyrics:

Teddy sniffing glue he was 12 years old Fell from the roof on East Two-nine Cathy was 11 when she pulled the plug On 26 reds and a bottle of wine Bobby got leukemia, 14 years old He looked like 65 when he died He was a friend of mine Refrain: Those are people who died, died Those are people who died, died Those are people who died, died Those are people who died, died They were all my friends, and they died G-berg and Georgie let their gimmicks go rotten So they died of hepatitis in upper Manhattan Sly in Vietnam took a bullet in the head Bobby OD'd on Drano on the night that he was wed They were two more friends of mine Two more friends that died / I miss 'em--they died Repeat Refrain Mary took a dry dive from a hotel room Bobby hung himself from a cell in the tombs Judy jumped in front of a subway train Eddie got slit in the jugular vein And Eddie, I miss you more than all the others, And I salute you brother/ This song is for you my brother Repeat Refrain Herbie pushed Tony from the Boys' Club roof Tony thought that his rage was just some goof But Herbie sure gave Tony some bitchen proof Hey, Herbie said, Tony, can you fly? But Tony couldn't fly . . . Tony died Repeat Refrain: Brian got busted on a narco rap He beat the rap by rattin' on some bikers He said, hey, I know it's dangerous, but it sure beats Riker's But the next day he got offed by the very same bikers Repeat Refrain; repeat song to Eddie

Death

Carroll, 60, died of a heart attack at his Manhattan home on September 11, 2009. On September 13 (the day his death was announced), it was stated that he was at his desk working when he died.

Books

Poetry

Jim Carroll in New York, NY (2005)

• Organic Trains (1967)
• 4 Ups and 1 Down (1970)
• Living at the Movies (1973)
• The Book of Nods (1986)
• Fear of Dreaming (1993)
• Void of Course: Poems 1994-1997 (1998) ISBN 0-14-058909-0

Prose

• The Basketball Diaries (1978)
• Forced Entries (1987)

Discography

Albums

• Catholic Boy (1980)
• Dry Dreams (1982)
• I Write Your Name (1983)
• A World Without Gravity: Best of The Jim Carroll Band (1993)
• Pools of Mercury (1998)
• Runaway EP (2000)

Spoken word

• Rimbaud Lectures (1978)
• Naropa Institute (1986)
• Praying Mantis (1991) (Re-released 2008)
• The Basketball Diaries (1994)
• Curtis's Charm (1996)
• Pools of Mercury (1998)

Collaborations

• Club Ninja, Blue Öyster Cult (1986)
• Other Roads, Boz Scaggs (1988)
• Between Thought and Expression: The Lou Reed Anthology, Lou Reed (1992)
• ...And Out Come the Wolves, Rancid (1995)
• Feeling You Up, Truly (1997)
• Yes I Ram, Jon Tiven Group (1999)

Compilations and soundtracks

• Tuff Turf Soundtrack (1985)
• Back to the Streets: Celebrating the Music of Don Covay (1993)
• Sedated in the Eighties (1993)
• New Wave Dance Hits: Just Can't Get Enough, Vol. 6 (1994)
• The Basketball Diaries Soundtrack (1995)
• WBCN Naked 2000 (2000)
• Dawn of the Dead (2004)

External links

• AP Obituary in the New York Times
• Internet Movie Database