Jim Carroll

During the 1960s, Carroll was a basketball prodigy and a fountain of untapped talent. He was also progressively becoming an addict. Through his teenage years, he discovered love, loss, pain, and joy, which is recounted in his memoir, "The Basketball Diaries", which tells the story of being lost; searching for something of substance and meaning; and about the beauty of innocence and the darkness of its loss. As copies of the diary began to make the rounds in the literary underground, Carroll was lauded as an important writer as people began to praise his talent. Kerouac and Burroughs dubbed Carroll "a born writer". By 1978, "The Basketball Diaries" was published and Carroll was a genuine literary icon. In 1973, he published "Living in the Movies", and moved to California. However, the purity he sought was not achieved until the origination of his second diary, "Forced Entries: The Downtown Diaries". The diary recalls his years working under the wing of Andy Warhol at the latter's legendary Factory, the entries also illustrate Carroll's battle with heroin addiction. After touring with rocker Patti Smith, Carroll explored the idea of starting his own band. What eventually was conceived was The Jim Carroll Band. The band released three records under the Atlantic Records banner. Throughout the 1980s/1990s, Carroll continued to publish poetry and spoken word albums as well as a greatest hits compilation of his band. In 1995, Scott Kalvert released a biopic of Carroll's life. The film property had been purchased by numerous directors who had all failed to produce it. It was finally released with Leonardo DiCaprio playing Carroll. Despite a strong lead performance in the film, ultimately it did not capture the beauty and brutal honesty of Carroll's book. Certain events were changed, characters invented and entire plot devices added. Carroll was quoted as having been "unpleased" with the final product. After this, he published another compilation of poetry and recorded his first straight rock album of all new material in almost 20 years. Carroll continued to tour through live readings and book signings. He remained in his native Manhattan, where he experienced a lifetime wrought with exploration and self-discovery until his death there at age 60 in 2009.