Jimmy Henry’s story
By ERIC LUDY
DCN Reporter
Four years ago Duluth poet Jimmy Henry was doing a poetry reading with four literature professors at a Barnes and Noble in Washington. They called him a "street poet," Henry says.
"I called them cul-de-sac poets, you know, because what does that mean?" he says.
Truth be told, Jimmy has been on the streets his whole life - from New York City, to Seattle, to his new home of two years in Duluth. He never graduated from college. He doesn't even have a computer.
"I just grab a notebook and wait for weird things to happen," he says.
Like two of his favorite artists, John Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie, Jimmy writes simply, in the language of everyday people. His poetry has been compared to that of Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg - the "beat poets."
After pedaling his bike from Portland, OR two years ago, Jimmy has settled down in Duluth, and he says he plans on staying. He can be found any given day of the week making the rounds between his usual hangouts in the Central Hillside. Look out for him. You'll know who he is. He'll be the only guy in a pinstripe suit riding a bicycle.
I caught up to Jimmy at Sunhillow Books on Fourth Street where he told me his story.