Most poets I know don't want to talk about Lee Litif. I'm going to talk (or at least write) about Lee Litif to anyone who wants to pay attention.
There are two types of Stone Soup audience members. The first group is comprised of people asking why I featured Lee Litif for so many years. The other group is made up of Lee's friends who likely think I treated him badly.
For those in the first group, I'll fully admit that Lee Litif often bugged the living hell out of me for years (and still continues to bug me online). I've seen his overbearing personality and style of poetry chase unsuspecting first-timers out of the Out of The Blue Art Gallery. Lee comes across as left leaning, even progressive, but you wouldn't know it from some of his verses. Some of you might have complaints regarding the one or two times you've seen him, but I've seen all his behaviors over the last near decade of Lee's last decade or so. So believe me when I tell you that I get it.
So why did I continue to feature Lee Litif--and his partner Chris Robbins--as much as I could, including during National Poetry Month? Because he brought people in. Always.
Like it or not, Lee Litif has always been a draw. He's a one man spectator sport who even warrants his own backup band, courtesy of guitarist Bassam Habal and whoever else he can rope in. People have always resented him for this too. I still remember the story of the poet who was furious when the Cambridge Chronicle did a story on National Poetry Month one year for their arts section and prominently displayed the bouncing, frenetic Lee in their cover photo. Sure, there were more "serious" poets in attendance, but dammit, how can you not as a journalist try to bottle that energy to get people's attention in contrast with a horde of poets unable to look up from their papers long enough for a photo to be taken?
When I started hosting Stone Soup in 2005, there was barely any kinetic energy to push a Hot Wheels race car. I always understood how Lee's style could attract people (and repel them if I wasn't careful).
In the early days of my tenure as host, his Stone Soup features would bring us pure profit, profit which inevitably helped me acquire our own speaker and mic when we had to leave Out of The Blue years later. Our coffers weren't always teeming, but in my first few years as host, we were guaranteed to have enough money in our bank by the time Lee Litif and Chris Robbins were done with their show. From the first time they featured in 2006, they were lifesavers.
Lee's friends might come forth and say I didn't always treat him well. I have to say they also have a point, but I would like to either defend myself to a degree.
One friend came up to me years ago and told me that Lee confided that he didn't like me him and Chris as the Fifth and Sixth Horsemen. I did do that, but I even addressed this to Lee via Facebook Messenger: I did do this, but I'm not sorry I did it. Lee and Chris together would be all but unmarketable without my salesmanship. The two were offensive, but in the early aughties, I was able to sell them based on their offensiveness. With disclaimers a-blazing, I brought people to the show who might not have normally attended. That was my part in their success. If Lee didn't like it, then that's too bad.
That aside, I admit I hurt Lee Litif in ways that most people don't know about.
First, I never gave him a cut of the money in the prime of the Fifth and Sixth Horsemen shows. Because I didn't give money to anyone at the time. In 2012, I brought in a part time co-host who insisted on paying features he booked. That's when I decided to avoid any potential conflicts or embarrassment and start paying all the features.
In many ways, I still feel this was one of my biggest mistake. In the beginning, I never profited from the shows and only used the money to pay our weekly rental fee to Out of The Blue, making sure we had a home no matter what happened (and that I didn't have to pay $200 a month out of my own pocket, which would have killed me). This new decision to pay features made it feel a little awkward when interacting with the old guard, who had featured numerous times for me with no pay. Some of that guard would have refused to be paid. Others, especially people visiting from out of state, would probably have liked some cash. That likely would have included Lee, but I never got to speak with him about it. He took time off from performing, and by the time he came back, he drew much less than before for a number of reasons.
I wish I had given him and Chris a cut of the money from our salad days of working together. Still that's not my biggest regret regarding my time with Lee. My biggest regrets came from the times I tried to downplay or hide him for the sake of appearing more respectable. And every time I did, I paid for it. Dearly.
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