Nothing cutesy here. I'm just getting in on the ground level but I would think any student of New England maritime history [or fenceposter -ed] should know the name Charles Olson. I need a slap... you will too.
The person, Maximus, represents Olson's alter ego, and is named after the second-century Maximus of Tyre, as well as a fourth-century Phoenician mystic, and may also refer to Olson's impressive stature (he was six feet seven inches tall). The place is Gloucester, Massachusetts, or more accurately, the small town communal American life that Olson struggled to preserve. Taking up local issues such as preserving the wetlands and documenting the history of fishermen in the Northeast, Olson's poems are widely read as political, but like the Cantos [meaning the Cantos by Ezra Pond -ed.], they also contain deeply lyrical and personal passages as well.
-via poets.org
