After a brief illness, Pierre Delattre passed away peacefully at home with his wife, Nancy, and his son, Marc, by his side. 7/2/30 - 10/18/22
Farewell to Pierre
“Come, fallen angel, and your pink wings close; Doff your white robe, your rays that gild the skies; You must—from heaven, where once you used to rise— Streak, like a shooting star, fall into prose.”
Théophile Gautier, 1811-72 from “Farewell to Poetry”
Pierre Delattre seemed to live a thousand lives all at the same time in every time zone on earth and every galaxy known to science and every spiritual pathway to ecstasy, mysticism and atonement. He was father and husband and friend. He knew trees and dirt, the sky and wind, wild berries and fallen leaves, Yeats and Proust. He honored life and the archetypal journey of mankind by freely giving his soul to friends and strangers, by singing and dancing and playing the flute, by being present in the lives of countless souls that needed him as he needed us. Above all, Pierre Delattre was a first class philosopher-poet who wore the wings of a novelist.
Pierre was a community activist decades before the term was invented or in vogue feeding the hungry with food and art in 1950’s North Beach, CA. Some know him as the quintessential Beat: a life dedicated to beatitudes of his own making. He was experimental; he was traditional; he was a classicist; and he made it up as he went along. There was simply no one like Pierre Delattre, and he earned his place in 20th century literature.
Through the many episodes of Pierre’s rich and fulfilling life, he cultivated his talents in the visual arts and rebirthed himself as a fulltime painter of renown in northern New Mexico combining brushstrokes on canvas with natural materials he collected on walks with Nancy. He told countless stories through his paintings and worked tirelessly to his very final days on his oeuvre and legacy in this medium. He also wrote novels and poetry with feverish energy and hopefulness to the end.
Pierre was a cosmic blend of humor, humility, intelligence, pride, physical prowess and creative genius. He was a virtuoso without doubt and his main instrument was his human touch. With a word or song or poem or joke, he brought us to his level transcending the worldly through his daily practice of writing, hiking, swimming, corresponding, reading, theorizing or listening. His popularity among droves of readers, naturalists, poets, artists, novelists, musicians, students and teachers is unparalleled. He once said, “My aim is to create as much happiness, beauty and love through my art as I possibly can.” That intention will continue to be realized in perpetuity by all who knew Pierre as a man and his work as an artist.
Throughout the last third of his life, Pierre and Nancy cultivated their creative union through disciplined art practice that included much hard work, intentional experience of nature, friendship and social gatherings where deep discussions were always at the forefront. At the same time, their joie de vivre - their pure delight and amazement in simply being alive - inspired many people to join them in celebrating the “divine in the ordinary” as Pierre might say. Pierre and Nancy were individual artists who shared a deep love for each other and profound commitment to their shared journeys in the arts. Over 35 years in northern New Mexico, they lived in Dixon and Penasco where they became embedded in those communities sharing in the love and loss of those they knew.
From his website shared with Nancy: “Pierre Delattre has been called “a narrative artist” perhaps because the lines and images in his acrylic paintings suggest stories to so many of his viewers, which is not surprising since he is a novelist too, having published five novels and a memoir with Houghton Mifflin, Penguin, Graywolf and others. He has made his living as a painter, working out of his own studio and exhibiting mostly from his own galleries, since l990.
Pierre graduated with honors and distinction from the U. of Penn, and holds graduate degrees from the U. of Chicago and The Instituto Allende, a branch of the U. of Mexico in San Miguel. He has received grants from The Bush Foundation, Jerome Foundation and The MacDowell Colony. His book Walking On Air (NY Times ‘Notable Book’) was made into a musical in Peterborough, NH. He and Nancy performed a program of their own songs for several years on the Minnesota Chautauqua Circuit during the time he taught at the University of Minnesota and she worked for the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and COMPAS.
A feature story of his life running a spiritual coffee house in San Francisco’s North Beach during the Beat era appeared in Time Magazine. Articles about his art appeared in THE, Santa Fe’s Monthly Magazine of the Arts, where he was lead essayist for seven years.”
One can imagine Pierre’s final dance and recitation of Yeats as he whirled in benevolence paying homage to his life, to his loved ones, to Nancy...and to the gods of nature and art with whom he enjoyed such intimate relations. His journey must have been brief to join their company since he was so near the heavens with each step he took, with each song he sung, with each book and poem he wrote.
Farewell to poetry. Adieu Maestro.
Terry Mulert Belen, New Mexico 10.23.22
