R.I.P. Polly Stewart

My ex-wife Polly died yesterday, her sister informed me. Polly and I were together from 1967 to 1978. She was hugely important and influential in my early writing career. Later, as "Sally," she became the model for a character in several of my works, including Kerouac's Scroll.

Models, remember, are fictionalized, but nonetheless I never revealed this while she was alive. It was easy enough to guess if you knew me at the time.

The representation closest to the facts is in my short film, Deconstructing Sally.

Polly was an accomplished folk musician and folklorist. Polly interviewed about the Salt Lake City folk revival.