Beyond Baroque mourns the passing of George Drury Smith (March 19, 1927 - August 28, 2026)

Beyond Baroque mourns the passing of George Drury Smith (March 19, 1927 - August 28, 2026)

©Joan Ganny  All Rights Reserved 2026

In 1968, George Drury Smith created a print journal in Venice, California, and gave it the provocative title, Beyond Baroque. His goal was to provoke innovative writing that exceeded traditional boundaries and conventions. The activity around the journal quickly produced a vital hub of literary and artistic activity that continues to this day in the form of the Beyond Baroque Foundation, the longest existing venue for readings, workshops, performances, exhibits and related arts in Los Angeles. For well more than half a century, Smith’s original vision has flourished. It is fitting to mark his death on August 28, 2026, at the age of 99, with a recognition of and tribute to his contributions and accomplishments. 

Smith arrived in Venice from the Midwest in the 1960s seeking what he thought would be a lively Beat scene. But the times had changed, and instead there was a nascent Hippie culture alongside the beach and surfing culture of the coastal city. In that era, Los Angeles was hardly a center of literary activity, and the community interested in avant-garde writing was small. Remarkably, the magazine generated interest and was soon followed by the creation of a venue in an old storefront renovated to host events and a start-up bookstore and publishing venture. In 1972, Smith created the Beyond Baroque Foundation which eventually took up residence in the old Venice City Hall where it is still housed. Smith’s visionary energy and commitment to creating a site to foster community succeeded. The ongoing activity of Beyond Baroque is a living testimony to the impact of his work and the power of an idea. 

Smith was born in Dayton, Ohio, and received his BA from Marietta College. His interest in languages and literature was evident by his engagement with French, Spanish, and German in his undergraduate studies. He spent time travelling abroad throughout his life, with trips to France, Austria, Germany, and Spain, and liked to note that whenever possible he would include time in Paris as part of his journeys. Later he developed an ongoing relationship with Amsterdam where his then-husband was involved in teaching and research. Being gay in the Midwest in the 1940s had not been easy, and the greater tolerance and range of lifestyles in Europe and California afforded personal as well as professional opportunities.

His cosmopolitanism showed in every aspect of his being—impeccable dress, careful grooming, and a highly developed taste in material objects, as well as in his literary sophistication. His interest in innovative writing drove his desire to publish and promote the work of those who were outside of or next to the mainstream. His own work, particularly his first (and only) novel, The Slant Hug of Time, published in 2012 when he was 87 years old, displays a virtuosic linguistic gamesmanship in which puns and anagrams, rhymes and playful twists of phrase are used to invent a strange dystopic world of pseudo-science and imaginative fiction. 

Conventional poetry held no interest for him, and so it is not surprising that the list of outstanding individuals who found their way to Beyond Baroque included Beat, Punk, Gay, and diverse artists who were often working at the edge of received ideas. For decades, Beyond Baroque served as a unique venue in Los Angeles and attracted the poets and musicians of national and international renown: Patti Smith, Viggo Mortensen, Allen Ginsberg, Dennis Cooper, Wanda Coleman, Tom Waits, and Exene Cervenka. In Peter Fitzgerald’s 2019 documentary film, Beyond Mr. Smith, Smith states, “I started Beyond Baroque and that is my main claim to fame.” The history of Beyond Baroque remains to be written, and when it is, what will be clear is that his vision contributed to making Los Angeles a significant node in late 20th and early 21st century literary life and networks at the national and even international level. 

Johanna Drucker, Professor Emerita, UCLA