His parents knew my parents. Both his and my dad are old school Chicago - 3 martini lunches in wood paneled rooms with other powerful white males. His Dad was the business editor of the Chicago Sun-Times. The day he wrote his last column was the day GK wrote his second.jeeks
publisher - Garrett County Press
GK Darby and Shelby Coffey III, then editor of the La Times
New Directions for News, Rand Corporation - Summer 1995
I've known GK since before I became acquainted with the use of toilets. He was always called GK - which we took to mean Ghengis Kahn, or Great Kid, until he told us his real name.
September 2001:
New Orleans with GK
George Kroening Darby studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. I predict great and ironic productions from GK - his garrett county journal is cutting edge web literary and design, true to form, his name seldom appears on the pages.
sorta like me!
GK wrote a weekly column for the Daily Badger called drag net. He covered the net well; - I'm hoping he assumes a larger venue for his own writing someday. Instead, he channels his efforts mostly into publishing his freak friends.
We met when we were young. That wound festered for fourteen years; we attended Parker that long together.
GK is a crazy mutherfucker. So tense, like I've never seen. When his hormones kicked in, in middle school, he would rush me in the middle of the hall at school and we'd throw each other against he lockers for a few mintues until we'd both be out of breath and we'd look at each other, grin, and hug.
Once, in high school, he slapped my back so hard, it raised a eighth inch welt.
We still occasionally rush each other on sight - sexual tension.
When Sue, his Mom was pregnant with him, she drank, smoked, and stripped wood. I asked my stepfather George about her once, he said, "She's no wallflower." She's a stockbroker, and always has some speculation and gesticulation goin' on. An extremely enthusiastic woman - I imagine she put a lot of pressure on GK.
Gk was my Secret Santa my freshman year in high school, supposed to leave me anonymous presents. I got a large piece of sedimentary concrete, canned escargo, a Buick hubcap, and Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck - GK's favourite writer at the time.
In high school, many of us would leave our school bags lying around the hall, to foster a casual atmosphere. GK and Mike liked to take my bag and run it up the flagpole. It's a good thing I have a sense of humour. When I tried the same thing on his trumpet, I found his lacking.
He exposed me to Frank Zappa, and Thelonious Monk. My tastes have never recovered. I exposed him to Led Zeppelin and Jane's Addiction. He emerged relatively unscathed.
Throughout high school, we worked on the literary magazine. Now, he's running his own: garrett county journal, a literary magazine, and garrett county press, a publishing endeavor. it's uncanny to have my oldest friend turn out to be an independent small print publisher.
but lest any of us forget he's a writer, there's a few things he's written @ bud.com:
sleep later until now ("that never should have been published")
saving private ryan's penis
and a funny, short letter to the editor.
Samples of Jeeks
Repetative stress injury (222k .aiff)
"Justin, did you get the alumni thing from Mr. Barrett and Lynn Mills?" (39k au).
You can also listen to that same message backwards and with reverb. (39k au)
proverbs he composed in eighth grade: a rock is only as hard as you throw it.
to leap you must jump.
physics makes the world go round.
the act of survival will soon make us extinct.
the SATs: my life reduced to dots.
justin's links by justin hall: contact