On Cassette: Frank Marshall Davis 2

Frank Marshall Davis recalls his childhood in Arkansas City, Kansas.  He discovered the public library at age 8 and read "Les Miserables."

He began writing as a student at Kansas State and became known as "the writer who looked like a prizefighter."

Davis first arrived in Chicago in 1927 and was struck by the busy-ness of the place.  It was the Prohibition Era and he rememembers that during his first visit to a speakeasy, a police officer came in only to ask for a drink himself.

Davis also talks about the jazz scene and venues like the Vendome and Metropolitan theatres as well as the Savoy Ballroom.  He recalls encounters with Fats Waller and Jelly Roll Morton.  He became friends with the prizefighter Jack Johnson.

Davis is questioned about the influence of jazz on his poetry.  He replies that he liked the free expressions of free verse.  He believes that poetry and jazz are intertwined.