Poem Description:
This epic poem begins and ends with a house exploding in Pasadena, California on June 17, 1952. The explosion killed Jack Parsons, one of the principal founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Aerojet Corporation and co-inventor of the American rocket. Jack Parsons, who probably knew more about explosive powders than anyone on Earth, was also an occultist and Satanist and fell in to the orbit of the Great Beast himself, Aleister Crowley. Is it a mere coincidence that in 1942, the same year that Crowley appointed Parsons head of the Agape Lodge, Parsons made a major breakthrough in the development of rocket solid fuel? Set against the backdrop of World War II and the race for supremacy in the air, this poem explores Jack Parsons, genius scientist by day, wild party animal by night. The characters include famous engineer Theodore van Karman, a young L. Ron Hubbard, Wernher von Braun, and Marjorie Cameron – otherwise known as the mysterious Scarlet Woman. Did Jack kill himself? Was the US Government too concerned about his unearthly activities? Or did Jack evoke sinister forces that were too much, even for him? Matt Bialer continues to write about obscure American history and myth, and find humanity even in the most bizarre.
Discussed:
- Matt talks about his poetic style as being one with as few words as possible and as clear as possible to tell stories that focus on urban myths like UFO’s and skinwalkers.
- The difference between how people perceive aliens now and how abductees did in the mid 20th century. Hint, not little green or thin grey aliens.
- Project Serpo (google’d it), a real conspiracy about Roswell and how we kept an alien being, used it to send a mission to a planet thirty eight light years away, and what happened to the team that went.
- Sheep dipping, and the erasing of one’s existence
- On the importance of being an open-minded narrator. “I don’t judge because I believe that people who are passionate about something have a good reason for it.”
- Black Powder (Amazon
- Bridge: Long Poems of the Extraordinary (Amazon
: Barnes and Noble: Book Depository)
- Already Here (Amazon
)
- Ark: An Epic Poem in XII Parts (Out of Print)
Works by Matt Bialer:
Sponsor for Episode 227:
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Book Giveaway: Sea Change
The unhappy child of two powerful parents who despise each other, young Lilly turns to the ocean to find solace, which she finds in the form of the eloquent and intelligent sea monster Octavius, a kraken. In Octavius’s many arms, Lilly learns of friendship, loyalty, and family. When Octavius, forbidden by Lilly to harm humans, is captured by seafaring traders and sold to a circus, Lilly becomes his only hope for salvation. Desperate to find him, she strikes a bargain with a witch that carries a shocking price.
Her journey to win Octavius’s freedom is difficult. The circus master wants a Coat of Illusions; the Coat tailor wants her undead husband back from a witch; the witch wants her skin back from two bandits; the bandits just want some company, but they might kill her first. Lilly’s quest tests her resolve, tries her patience, and leaves her transformed in every way.A powerfully written debut from a young fantasy author, S.M. Wheeler’s Sea Change is an exhilarating tale of adventure, resilience, and selflessness in the name of friendship.
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Timothy C. Ward
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Stay tuned Thursday for Part Two of our interview with Matt Bialer, discussing the publishing industry from his perspective as a literary agent for Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 36:01 — 33.1MB)
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