Executive Summary - Born working-class - Bourgeois education - Aristocratic taste & appetite - Has since become lumpenproletarian (& proud of it!) - Resists wage slavery - Subsists on welfare when necessary (poor man's arts council grant) - Gives very good value for money! (This is the Bottom Line) |
- 1951 Born a short walk from the grave
of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, in Birchington-on-Sea
 ['I have been here before' -Sudden Light]
|
 |
- early success in fancy dress competitions
- first verse published aged 9
product of post-war baby boom
grew up beneath the shadow of Atomic doom
- performed in Gang Shows
& school productions, inc.
psychedelic version of 'Alice
in Wonderland' (Press notice:
'the turned-on Dormouse with the
John Lennon look')
- Father, Namur King, died prematurely, aged 53 (same age as Rossetti, above) in 1968, when I was still only 16. In last letter to me wrote:
'Always, cling to your convictions although it will be difficult at times in this cynical & mercenary world and you will find no little adversity in the practice of propounding a belief or adopting an unconventional attitude.' (Namur King) |
This invaluable advice has guided me throughout my subsequent life.
- became Vegetarian
- made 2 short 8mm films (long before digital video & YouTube etc)
- expelled from school
for allowing hair to grow...
- 1970 Attended Isle of Wight Festival,
featuring, Hendrix, The Doors, The Who, Leonard Cohen,
Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Donovan, Miles Davis & many others
- 1971 Anarchist anti-exams campaign
(along with Dr Brian Butterworth et al.)
at University College London. Told by Prof.
Frank Kermode 'this isn't Utopia', asked 'Why not?'...
| 1973 - became Page 3 pin-up in Daily Mirror! |
- (1972 - 5) Attended Stirling University, Scotland,
at time of Queen's visit Demo & subsequent Occupation,
arrested for being 'in clandestine possession of a boat',
(now there's an anecdote!), charge later dropped
dropped acid, smoked dope, ate magic mushrooms etc,
as long-haired students do or used to,
(also read a lot of books)
studied with Norman MacCaig,
crossed (s)words with Hugh MacDiarmid,
began live performance of own material
(at various venues), later culminating in hour-long solo shows...
Fed at least 5000
as Militant Guerrilla Wholefood Cook
(trained by French Sufi J.C.,
who cooked miso soup & pumpkin pie for John Lennon in Toronto!)
Macrobiotic phase
Started Wholefood Co-op
Planted Trees
Recycled Paper
- Appeared as Extra in Monty Python & the Holy Grail
(together with cast of thousands!) 1975
Over the years, various, impermanent, intimate personal relationships, (loving & leaving/ being left) which remain strictly private - no salacious revelations or risqué exposés here! Sorry... [If it's sensationalist smut you're seeking, try this.] |
from late 1970s thru 1980s |
- Modelled for Life Drawing Classes
(cf. Quentin Crisp)
- Taught English as a Foreign Language
& attempt to write it as such...
Temporary work in Fields, Factories &
Shops, Offices, even door-to-door...
Experienced long-term unemployment,
being surplus to requirements
on an over-populated island
1990s Community activism,
started LETS group,
named alternative currency
(In the Cornish town of Falmouth, there are many Palm trees, so I named the new, virtual currency “Palms”
- which neatly refers to the idea of helping hands as well as the so-called, mythical “Money Tree”)
Nevertheless, remained broke if not quite broken...
wouldn't compete
in the capitalist game
failed to achieve
either fortune or fame
believed each & all
should be valued the same
an anarchist ethic
could well be to blame
"Unprofitably travelling towards the grave..." (Wordsworth)
2001: 50th Birthday
20/02/2002 :
Creation Date of Domain Name
davyking.com
'man & mobile' (animated self-portrait, October 2005), displaying then-new tech. See how soon these things date. Wait for the next new thing?
27/10/2010
Thinking about it
2011: Greatest co-creation to date, SON born
2013:
Self-Portrait
2017:
2019:
Davy King now lives quietly with consort & young son, creating this website & cultivating garden
"Quietly", though sometimes making rather too much noise for my liking!
I jokingly refer to us as "We 3 Kings"
Between Bookshelves & Kitchen Sink (March, 2019)
With All Love
& Rebellion against Extinction
Davy King
XXXR
Anecdote (Meeting a Famous Man)
|
|
Home
|
Contents
|
|
Of course, this is elliptical. Lots of lacunae in my life's chronology.
(To be continued & expanded...)