We had a beautiful Celebration of Life for Jack, which is now posted on YouTube, posted below as well.
In his early years, Jack studied to be a priest at the Passionist Fathers Seminary, then became a member of the counterculture and read his poetry in Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Eugene OR, Victoria BC, and Kent OH.
His one-person show Dark Is a Long Way: An Evening with Dylan Thomas ran for two years at the 13th Street Theater in NYC, at the Odyssey Theater in Los Angeles, and toured the country. His acting roles in New York include the leading role in The Empire Laughs Back and Bunthorne in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience. Isaac Asimov praised Jack’s performance as “the best Bunthorne I have ever seen.”
He taught in Stockholm, Sweden for several years. On his return to America, he performed with the Chicago Medieval Players and often read his poetry at The Green Mill. He performed Whitman’s Song of Myself at the New York Public Library and the Walt Whitman Birthplace Museum on Long Island.
He had the lead role in the film The Age of Insects, which was screened and archived at the Museum of Modern Art as part of their exhibit Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978–1983.
His documentary, William Blake: Inspiration and Vision, won an Aegis award for best educational film. His program Environmental Art on the Ohio River focused on the beauty of nature and the great threats it is facing. His YouTube videos include his documentary Ecstasy & Death: Keats and Shelley in Rome, and his readings Eavesdropping in Plato’s Cafe, Two Hundred and Six Bones, Ode to the West Wind, Ode on a Grecian Urn, and Ozymandias.
His poetry books include Eavesdropping in Plato’s Café, The Future Past, and Death Sings in the Choir of Light. His historical fiction, Turtle Island: A Dream of Peace, tells the story of the founding of the Iroquois League of Nations.
Location on video for Tributes, Readings by Jack, and Photos:
Tributes
Nancy Rodgers – 2:50
Dee Goertz – 40:00
Jeremy Wells – 46:00
Bill Whitaker – 59:00
Diane Russell – 1:22:00
Readings by Jack Ramey
Celluloid Elegy – 7:00
Ode to the West Wind – 20:30
Ode on a Grecian Urn – 31:00
Two Hundred and Six Bones – 35:42
Photos – 1:30:00