Poet Austin Straus, former husband of Anne Moody, has died

Austin Straus (1939-2017)

He leaves rich creative legacy in art, writing 

By Roscoe Barnes III

Chairman, Anne Moody History Project
Copyright (c) 2017

#AnneMoody

Austin Straus, who was known as a distinguished poet and painter, has died. He was the former husband of Anne Moody, author of Coming of Age in Mississippi (Dial, 1968).

Straus passed on July 20, 2017, at the age of 78. He reportedly had suffered from diabetes. A memorial service is scheduled for Oct. 22, 2017, at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center in Venice, California. Frances Jefferson, sister of Moody, is helping with the arrangements.

“I saw him last year for the first time since I was nine years old,” Jefferson said by phone. “He was a prolific writer. He was a renowned poet and artist in his own right.”

Straus and Moody had one child, Sasha Straus, "who is his only child," according to Jefferson. Sasha lives in Mississippi. The couple divorced in 1977 and Straus later married Wanda Coleman, who was also a poet. They were married for 32 years when she passed in 2013.

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"I have a split artistic personality so that poems come from one aspect of my mind and visual work from somewhere else, though they do, at times, overlap especially when a poem evokes scenes and places or is very descriptive. I love improvisation, as I write, as I paint or burn (I use fire in my work, usually with a magnifying glass in the sun), and when I perform." -- Austin Straus in Dive Dapper interview

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In addition to being known as a poet, Straus developed a reputation as a painter, printmaker, and book artist. He authored a number of books, collaborated with other writers and published in anthologies. Despite his accomplishments as a writer, he essentially viewed himself as a “book artist,” according to Dr. Bill Mohr, professor in the Department of English at California State University, Long Beach. He shared the following in his blog post about Straus:

“Austin considered himself to be primarily a book artist, and that work can be found in many collections, including Chapman College, Occidental College, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. However, his poems will also remain a steadfast part of the community of poets he joined almost forty years ago.”

Straus was a graduate student at New York University when he met Anne Moody in 1966. At the time, Moody was completing her famous autobiography. She said in a 1985 interview with Debra Spencer that she fell in love:

“…Just as I’d finished Coming of Age, I met a man, (and) fell madly in love. I lived with him for almost a year and married him on March 9, 1967. He was a Jewish guy from Brooklyn, an NYU graduate student in philosophy.”

When Coming of Age came out in 1968, the hardback edition featured a portrait of Moody on the back cover that was taken by Straus. The full portrait has also appeared on the front cover. A cropped headshot from the photo appears on the front cover of the current edition of the book.

In 1971, the couple’s son, Sasha, was born. And In 1972, the family moved to Berlin where they lived until 1974.

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This photo of Anne Moody was taken by her then-husband, Austin Straus.
It was featured on the back cover of the earlier hardback
edition of Coming of Age in Mississippi (Dial, 1968)

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In 1978, about a year after his divorce, Straus moved to Los Angeles. And according to Mohr, he “immediately settled into an ongoing renaissance of poetry in Southern California.” Mohr notes that Straus’ achievements include his role as founder and co-host of “The Poetry Connexion” on KPFK-FM, a position he held from 1981 to 1996. 

In addition to Stand Up Poetry, Straus’ work has appeared in such publications as This Sporting Life, The Maverick Poets, Plainsong, and Alcatraz 3. His list of books includes Intensifications (Red Hen Press, 2010), Drunk with Light (Red Hen Press, 2002), and The Love Project: A Marriage Made in Poetry (Red Hen Press, 2014), which he co-authored with his late wife, Wanda Coleman.

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Drunk with Light (Red Hen Press, 2002) is one 

of several books of poetry by Austin Straus.

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Straus was also featured in Men of Our Time: An Anthology of Male Poetry in Contemporary America (University of Georgia Press, 2004), which is described as a “groundbreaking volume” that brings “together a comprehensive and widely representative selection of poetry reflecting both the diversity and commodity of male experience in the United States today,” according to the book’s publisher. 

Other anthologies in which his work appeared include: The Maverick Poets: An Anthology (Gorilla Press, 1988), edited by Steve Kowit; Amorotica: New Erotic Poetry (Deep River Press, 1981), edited by Elliot Fried; and "Poetry Loves Poetry": An Anthology of Los Angeles Poets (Momentum Press, 1985), edited by Bill Mohr.

In 1991, Straus published Laureate without a Country. He also taught in the English department at Los Angeles City College. 

Over the years, Straus displayed his work in exhibits that featured his drawings, paintings, and prints. Sometimes he presented readings during the events. In his final years, he apparently tried to continue "his life-long exploration of visual poetry with paintings, collages and unique books," according to a post shared by Timothy Green. 

May he rest in peace.

References:

* Professor Bill Mohr provides this link to an audio recording of Austin Straus on Poets Cafe: http://www.timothy-green.org/blog/austin-straus/

* Dive Dapper, which features interviews of "major voices in contemporary poetry," published this piece on Austin Straus: https://www.divedapper.com/interview/austin-straus/

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Editor's Note:

Questions about the Anne Moody History Project may be directed to Roscoe Barnes III via email at doctorbarnes3@gmail.com or roscoebarnes3@yahoo.com For updates on Anne Moody history and the on-going work of this community service project, simply follow this blog or follow AMHP on Twitter (@AnneMoodyHP). #ComingOfAgeinMississippi