Carole Thomas interview
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Item Info
- Title:
- Carole Thomas interview
- Date:
- June 20, 2003
- Contributor:
- Thomas, Carole
- Description:
- Carole Thomas (b. 1941) was born in New York, NY. She came to Gene Smith as a student in 1959. They subsequently fell in love and had an on-and-off relationship because of Smith's problems with alcohol and drugs. She lived in the Jazz Loft building with him from 1959-1968, and her support was probably essential to him staying alive and accomplishing what he did during that period. Thomas was an artist and designer with a background in theater design, which made her a perfect companion for Smith, who was fascinated by the visual qualities of theater throughout his life. She comes across in conversation as a very sharp and sympathetic figure on many of Smith's loft tapes. In this oral history, Thomas talks about her time as W. Eugene Smith's assistant and goes into great detail about Smith's creative process, his health struggles and addictions, and his relationships with other artists and musicians. Thomas also discusses the Jazz Loft and its many visitors/inhabitants including Roland Kirk, Ronnie Free, and Freddy Greenwell. Other topics include Thomas's personal life in New York City and California and her personal development as an artist.
- Format:
- interviews
- Digital Collection:
- Jazz Loft Project records
- Source Collection:
- Jazz Loft Project records, 1950-2012 and undated, bulk 2002-2009
- Rights:
-
No Re-Use
In Copyright
- Rights Note:
- This material is made available for research, scholarship, and private study. Copyright in this material has not been transferred to Duke University. For reuses of this material beyond those permitted by fair use or otherwise allowed under the Copyright Act, please see our page on copyright and citations https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.
- Identifier:
-
- Permalink:
- https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4cr5v90b