The New York Times reported on Sunday that Jim Carroll, a  writer, poet
and singer died.  He was 60 according to The Times and 59 according to Wikipedia.  On the writing end of things, Jim is
probably best remembered for the memoir of his teenage years, The
Basketball Diaries, which was turned into a movie of the same name in
the mid-90s.  One interesting fact about Jim: for a while in the early 70s, he was a roommate of Patti Smith and Robert Maplethorp.

On the music side, Jim will be remembered for the song
People Who Died.  Here is a live performance by the Jim Carroll Band of that gritty, harrowing
song.

–Eliot Wagner