The Early Years.


Late '50s.


Italy, Summer 1971.
Photo by Bobbie Locklin.

"We have been blathering on about Gerry Locklin since we first learned how to type. We have termed the poet and Cal State Long Beach prof everything from our Topo Gigio to one of the finest poets who's ever lived (and man, has he ever lived!).

"Of course, one of the reasons for the profligacy of our praise is the prolificacy of his output. No one, we would guess, knows how many books Locklin has in print. We have more than 60 of his books, and we stumble upon more every time we open our mail or clean up around the bookshelves.*

"And here's the weird part: None of his books is bad. But heck, we're just a simple country columnist and you shouldn't take our word for the excellence of this area's premiere writer, whose millions of words have painted a stunningly thorough picture of one man's life - not necessarily the author's, he continuously reminds us - from humble, aunt-and-uncle-packed upbringing in upstate New York, to a turbulent, alcohol-fueled ride through academia, to the more peaceful ruminations of a man at sunset who's learned to love that whole, danged life, and to appreciate how it goes on even still."

Tim Grobaty
from the Long Beach Press Telegram
May 25, 2000

*Note: the CSULB Library catalog lists 120 items by Locklin; the Long Beach Public Library catalog lists 45; and the Library of Congress catalog shows 23.

Early '90s.                                      Late '90s. Photo by Vanessa Locklin.

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