Roxy Lee Gordon (March 7, 1945 – February 7, 2000) was an American poet, novelist, musician, multimedia artist, and activist. Described as a "progressive country witness and outlaw poet," Gordon often used spoken vocals accompanied by music that mixed Native American rhythms with country and Western themes and musicians working in Texas.

Background and education

Gordon was raised and lived later in his life in

Talpa, Texas Talpa is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Coleman County, Texas, United States. According to the ''Handbook of Texas'', the community had an estimated population of 127 in 2000. Geography Talpa is located at (31.7765369, -99.709 ...

. He identified as being of

Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

and

Assiniboine The Assiniboine or Assiniboin people ( when singular, Assiniboines / Assiniboins when plural; Ojibwe: ''Asiniibwaan'', "stone Sioux"; also in plural Assiniboine or Assiniboin), also known as the Hohe and known by the endonym Nakota (or Nakoda ...

ancestry.

Publishing

In the late 1960s, his wife Judy and he lived in

Lodge Pole, Montana Lodge Pole is a census-designated place (CDP) in Blaine County, Montana, United States. The population was 265 at the 2010 census. It lies within the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, near the reservation's southern end. The nearby community of ...

, where he published the ''Fort Belknap Notes'', a newsletter of the Fort Belknap reservation. In the 1970s, they moved to

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

, New Mexico, and ran a country-music magazine, ''Picking up the Tempo''. Gordon was also involved in the

American Indian Movement The American Indian Movement (AIM) is a Native American grassroots movement which was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July 1968, initially centered in urban areas in order to address systemic issues of poverty, discrimination, and police ...

and helped found a local chapter in Dallas. His writing was featured in ''Rolling Stone'' and the ''Village Voice'' and he ran a small publishing company called Wowapi.

Writing

In addition to music and spoken word, Gordon published six books and more than 200 poems, articles, and short fiction; he also coauthored two plays with his wife. Gordon had a following in England as well as the U.S., and his circle included singer-songwriter

Townes Van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

and others who respected poetic narratives.

Works

His works include: *''Some Things I Did'' (1979), *''Breeds''Davis, R. M. (1986). Roxy Gordon: "breeds" (book review). ''Studies in Short Fiction, 23''(3), 333. (1984) Austin, Tex.: Place of Herons, *''Unfinished Business'' (1985) *''At Play in the Lord's Fields'' (1986) *''West-Texas Mid Century'' (1988) *''Crazy Horse Never Died'' (1989) *''Kerrville Live (1993)'' *''Revolution in the Air'' (1995) *''Smaller Circles'' (1997) *''Townes Asked Did Hank Williams Ever Write Anything as Good as Nothing'' (2001)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Roxy 1945 births 2000 deaths 20th-century American musicians American people of Choctaw descent Native Americans' rights activists American male musicians American male writers