Chicago Poet and playwright Eddy Two-Rivers has passed away to wherever authentic personalities go when their bodies cave in. Story goes (not certain if its completely true, but this is how he would tell it) that he was on sabbatical from a certain state institution and stopped by the Green Mill for a cold one before reuniting with his family in Uptown. The Green Mill had been a well known watering hole for northside skins before Dave Jemilo took over ownership from Steve Brent in 1986. Eddy came through the door expecting to find cousins and brothers celebrating the freedoms of the Americanization dream in mad dog style. Instead, he found ex-construction worker me whooping atop the bar rail bucking out blue collar lines of poetry rage – pleasing a hunk of the dark masses and frightening the more timid poetry pastels.
Eddy thought to himself, “Hey. I write poetry, too. Some of it better than that guy’s stuff. And I’m a machinist. Maybe I’ve found something here.”
Weeks later he was up on stage at the Green Mill alongside the early slam greats: Patricia Smith, Cin Salach, Sheila Donohue, Lisa Buscani, Marvin Tate, Gregorio Gomez, John Sheehan, Rob Van Tuyle, Mike Barrett, Tony Fitzpatrick and many many others. He became one of the outstanding performance poets of the Chicago slam scene during the late 1980s and throughout the 90s. He formed a Native American Theater group at Truman College, published several volumes of poetry, gave countless performamces, taught workshops, and produced a bagful of plays based on the urban Indian experience. He pieced together a modest living writing, performing, organizing, and helping young writers and performers develope their chops.
He was a no bullshit (well, maybe a little bullshit) voice of Uptown Chicago, the Slam, and his north woods heritage. He was a friend, a brother in spirit, and a streetwise trickster. May his words live on. And may all us in the slam community keep his memory bright.
