Sharmagne Leland-St. John
Encyclopedia
Sharmagne Leland-St. John (born May 23, 1946) is a 20th century Native American
poet. Leland-St. John is best known for the poem "I Said Coffee," for which she was nominated for the Pushcart Prize
in 2007. With its “deadpan puncturing of the male ego and its assumption of sexual implication where there is none,” this signature piece has become one of her most frequently published and requested poems.
in Honduras
. During her childhood he would disappear for months at a time, collecting exotic animals with which to supply zoos and private estates. He also had a pheasant farm and quail ranch in Mexico City
, tried his hand at ranching in Las Vegas
, and eventually settled down in Tarzana in California’s San Fernando Valley
.
Leland-St. John’s mother, child actress Roseanne Gahan, worked with Cecil B. DeMille
. Roseanne’s father Arvé, a virtuoso violinist (née John Harvey Gahan
), was a child prodigy in Canada. He began playing at age 3; at the age of 5 he played a command performance for the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII). Gahan married Josephine Morong Runnels, the granddaughter of Chief Que Que Tas of the Sanpoil (tribe)
in the Pacific Northwest.
Leland-St. John was the second child born to Jerome and Roseanne. Due to Jerome's infidelity, the marriage was rocky from the start. When Leland-St. John was 3 years old, her father left the family, sued for custody, won, and then placed both children in a Catholic convent.
Roseanne's childhood nanny, Blanche O'Connor, offered to take both girls and raise them while Jerome traveled around the world. He agreed and the girls were placed in a home in downtown Los Angeles
with a guardian and O’Connor as governess. Leland-St. John became an avid reader who devoured dozens of books. She has often been quoted as saying, “Reading is one of the deepest joys I have ever known.” At age 10 she contracted polio and spent the next two years bedridden. During this time she began to write poetry and experiment with writing what would now be termed "flash fiction."
In 1958 her father returned to the U.S. and brought his daughters to live with him and their stepmother in Tarzana, which promptly caused his wife to leave him. The girls enjoyed life as teenagers with a bachelor father.
Leland-St. John’s high school years were uneventful, even though she had left home and had her own apartment while still in school. She enjoyed art and drama, performing in productions such as Gilbert and Sullivan
’s The Mikado
, George Bernard Shaw
’s Pygmalion
, and a few other high school productions. She showed a flair for writing short stories as early as junior high school.
After graduation from high school, Leland-St. John was accepted to the University of Mexico. By this time her primary interests were archeology and ballet. However, her new stepmother would not allow her to leave the country, so she pursued a career as a model to pay for college expenses.
At a party in the mid 1960's she met Peter Yarrow
from the folk singing group Peter Paul and Mary and they began dating. Through the group's road manager, Tom Law, she was introduced to Peter Walker
with whom she began performing in concert and writing song lyrics. Under the name "Peter and the Countess," they performed the music behind former Harvard professor Dr. Timothy Leary
’s “Celebrations,” a series of psychedelic slide shows. They also performed in venues such as The Fillmore
East and West, The Psychedelic Super Market in Boston
, The Ark in San Francisco, The Ash Grove
in Los Angeles, and worked the high school concert route with their band the original Orient Express
, which included band members Bruce Langhorne
and Lowell George
.
In the late 1960s while working for song writer Jimmy Webb
, Leland-St. John began writing poetry and song lyrics in earnest and has collaborated with Peter Yarrow
, Peter Walker
, Darby Slick
, Jefferson Airplane
, Hedges Capers, Hedge and Donna, Wes Farrell
and several other well known composers.
In the 1970s Leland-St. John acted in TV commercials and briefly, in features and on TV; however, she found little satisfaction in this arena, and so she went back to writing and performing music, stand-up, and poetry.
, the Oscar-winning production designer. They had two children: a boy, Nikolai, who lived for only a few hours (her poem “Tiny Warrior” was written about Nikolai), and a daughter, Daisy Alexandra (currently a costumer in the film industry and boutique owner).
In 1980, Richard asked his manager to include her in his contracts and Leland-St. John began working as his assistant and researcher or design consultant. In 2001 she designed her first film Tricks
, starring Gail O'Grady
and Michael Murphy
. It was honored at the RiverRun International Film Festival
in North Carolina
and the Angel City Film Festival in Hollywood. That same year she co-founded and became Editor-in-Chief and publisher of the online magazine and literary journal Quill and Parchment. She co-directed and co-produced the short film Being With Eddie in 2003. It was honored at the USA Film Festival
, and The First Native American Film Festival in Ventura County (2004). Her short film screenplay Butterfly Catcher was filmed by the Native American Film and TV Alliance (NAFATA) in 2004.
During Daisy Alexandra’s early school years, Leland-St. John became very active in fund raising which enhanced school libraries in Los Angeles through donations and a recycling program. She worked on creating a library at Pacific Hills School
in West Hollywood, funded a playground and created a garden at The Oaks School in Hollywood.
In 1992, Timothy Leary appeared at a library fund raising event at The Oaks. When she asked what he had been up to, he told her he had discovered a new drug, then motioned for her to come closer and whispered to her “the Internet!” Leland-St. John began to investigate this new medium and published her first poem on the Internet in 1998.
After an extended illness, husband Richard Sylbert died in March 2002 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital
in Calabasas, California
. Three months after his death she produced a memorial tribute to him at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
. Over 700 people attended.
She co-authored the memoir her husband had begun, but left unfinished at the time of his death. (Designing Movies: Portrait of a Hollywood Artist (2006)).
Leland-St. John spends her time traveling between her home in the Hollywood Hills and her fishing lodge in the Pacific Northwest. She tours the world performing her poetry either solo or with her band of poets Poetry in Motion
and the poet group known as "Emerging Urban Poets."
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
poet. Leland-St. John is best known for the poem "I Said Coffee," for which she was nominated for the Pushcart Prize
Pushcart Prize
The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are invited to nominate up to 6 works they have featured....
in 2007. With its “deadpan puncturing of the male ego and its assumption of sexual implication where there is none,” this signature piece has become one of her most frequently published and requested poems.
Early years
Leland-St. John was born into a racially mixed family. Her paternal grandmother frequently referred to her mother’s family as “those filthy savages.” Her father Jerome, a Lipka Tatar, was an actor at the time of her birth, but gave up acting to become an animal trapper in the jungles of TegucigalpaTegucigalpa
Tegucigalpa , and commonly referred as Tegus , is the capital of Honduras and seat of government of the Republic, along with its twin sister Comayagüela. Founded on September 29, 1578 by the Spanish, it became the country's capital on October 30, 1880 under President Marco Aurelio Soto...
in Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
. During her childhood he would disappear for months at a time, collecting exotic animals with which to supply zoos and private estates. He also had a pheasant farm and quail ranch in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, tried his hand at ranching in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, and eventually settled down in Tarzana in California’s San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
.
Leland-St. John’s mother, child actress Roseanne Gahan, worked with Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
. Roseanne’s father Arvé, a virtuoso violinist (née John Harvey Gahan
John Harvey Gahan
John Harvey “Oscar” Gahan As Canada's child prodigy violinist. Gahan played a command performance for the Prince of Wales As a virtuoso violinist he performed under the name Arvé.-Early years:Gahan was born in Orangeville, Ontario, Canada...
), was a child prodigy in Canada. He began playing at age 3; at the age of 5 he played a command performance for the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII). Gahan married Josephine Morong Runnels, the granddaughter of Chief Que Que Tas of the Sanpoil (tribe)
Sanpoil (tribe)
The Sanpoil is one of 12 aboriginal Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation. The name Sanpoil comes from the Okanagan [snpʕwílx], "gray as far as one can see". It has been folk-etymologized as coming from the French sans poil, "without fur". The Yakama people know the tribe as...
in the Pacific Northwest.
Leland-St. John was the second child born to Jerome and Roseanne. Due to Jerome's infidelity, the marriage was rocky from the start. When Leland-St. John was 3 years old, her father left the family, sued for custody, won, and then placed both children in a Catholic convent.
Roseanne's childhood nanny, Blanche O'Connor, offered to take both girls and raise them while Jerome traveled around the world. He agreed and the girls were placed in a home in downtown Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
with a guardian and O’Connor as governess. Leland-St. John became an avid reader who devoured dozens of books. She has often been quoted as saying, “Reading is one of the deepest joys I have ever known.” At age 10 she contracted polio and spent the next two years bedridden. During this time she began to write poetry and experiment with writing what would now be termed "flash fiction."
In 1958 her father returned to the U.S. and brought his daughters to live with him and their stepmother in Tarzana, which promptly caused his wife to leave him. The girls enjoyed life as teenagers with a bachelor father.
Leland-St. John’s high school years were uneventful, even though she had left home and had her own apartment while still in school. She enjoyed art and drama, performing in productions such as Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
’s The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
, George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
’s Pygmalion
Pygmalion (play)
Pygmalion: A Romance in Five Acts is a play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of...
, and a few other high school productions. She showed a flair for writing short stories as early as junior high school.
After graduation from high school, Leland-St. John was accepted to the University of Mexico. By this time her primary interests were archeology and ballet. However, her new stepmother would not allow her to leave the country, so she pursued a career as a model to pay for college expenses.
At a party in the mid 1960's she met Peter Yarrow
Peter Yarrow
Peter Yarrow is an American singer who found fame with the 1960s folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Yarrow co-wrote one of the group's most famous songs, "Puff, the Magic Dragon"...
from the folk singing group Peter Paul and Mary and they began dating. Through the group's road manager, Tom Law, she was introduced to Peter Walker
Peter Walker (guitarist)
Peter Walker is an American folk guitarist noted for dextrous instrumental pieces that reference the Indian classical and Spanish flamenco traditions...
with whom she began performing in concert and writing song lyrics. Under the name "Peter and the Countess," they performed the music behind former Harvard professor Dr. Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
’s “Celebrations,” a series of psychedelic slide shows. They also performed in venues such as The Fillmore
The Fillmore
The Fillmore Auditorium is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California, made famous by Bill Graham. Named for its original location at the intersection of Fillmore Street and Geary Boulevard, it lies on the boundary of the Western Addition and the Pacific Heights neighborhoods.In 1968,...
East and West, The Psychedelic Super Market in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, The Ark in San Francisco, The Ash Grove
The Ash Grove
The Ash Grove is a traditional Welsh folk song whose melody has been set to numerous sets of lyrics. The most well-known was written, in English, by John Oxenford in the 19th century....
in Los Angeles, and worked the high school concert route with their band the original Orient Express
Orient Express
The Orient Express is the name of a long-distance passenger train service originally operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. It ran from 1883 to 2009 and is not to be confused with the Venice-Simplon Orient Express train service, which continues to run.The route and rolling stock...
, which included band members Bruce Langhorne
Bruce Langhorne
Bruce Langhorne is an American folk musician. He was active in the Greenwich Village folk scene in the 1960s, primarily as a session guitarist for folk albums and performances...
and Lowell George
Lowell George
Lowell Thomas George was an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, who was the main guitarist and songwriter for the rock band Little Feat.- Early years :...
.
In the late 1960s while working for song writer Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He wrote numerous platinum selling classics, including "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", "The Worst That Could Happen", "All I Know", and "MacArthur Park"...
, Leland-St. John began writing poetry and song lyrics in earnest and has collaborated with Peter Yarrow
Peter Yarrow
Peter Yarrow is an American singer who found fame with the 1960s folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Yarrow co-wrote one of the group's most famous songs, "Puff, the Magic Dragon"...
, Peter Walker
Peter Walker (guitarist)
Peter Walker is an American folk guitarist noted for dextrous instrumental pieces that reference the Indian classical and Spanish flamenco traditions...
, Darby Slick
Darby Slick
Darby Slick is an American guitarist and songwriter, best known as a member of The Great Society, and as the writer of the Jefferson Airplane song "Somebody to Love". In 1965 he co-founded The Great Society with Jerry Slick, Jenn Piersol, and Grace Slick...
, Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
, Hedges Capers, Hedge and Donna, Wes Farrell
Wes Farrell
Wes Farrell was an American musician, songwriter and record producer, who was most active in the 1960s and 1970s...
and several other well known composers.
In the 1970s Leland-St. John acted in TV commercials and briefly, in features and on TV; however, she found little satisfaction in this arena, and so she went back to writing and performing music, stand-up, and poetry.
Marriage
Leland-St. John was married to Richard SylbertRichard Sylbert
Richard Sylbert was an Academy Award-winning production designer and art director, primarily for feature films....
, the Oscar-winning production designer. They had two children: a boy, Nikolai, who lived for only a few hours (her poem “Tiny Warrior” was written about Nikolai), and a daughter, Daisy Alexandra (currently a costumer in the film industry and boutique owner).
In 1980, Richard asked his manager to include her in his contracts and Leland-St. John began working as his assistant and researcher or design consultant. In 2001 she designed her first film Tricks
Tricks
Tricks, is a 2007 Polish film written, directed and produced by Andrzej Jakimowski starring Damian Ul, Ewelina Walendziak and Tomasz Sapryk. Tricks is Andrzej Jakimowski's follow up to Squint Your Eyes , his 2002 debut.-Plot:...
, starring Gail O'Grady
Gail O'Grady
Gail Ann O'Grady is an American television actress. She is best known for her roles as Donna Abandando on NYPD Blue and as Helen Pryor on American Dreams...
and Michael Murphy
Michael Murphy (actor)
Michael George Murphy is an American film and television actor.-Career:Murphy played Woody Allen's duplicitous friend Yale in the film Manhattan...
. It was honored at the RiverRun International Film Festival
RiverRun International Film Festival
The RiverRun International Film Festival is a regional film festival held annually each spring in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The festival is a 5013 non-profit organization and presents a variety of feature-length and short films from all genres, and also presents special events, regional...
in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
and the Angel City Film Festival in Hollywood. That same year she co-founded and became Editor-in-Chief and publisher of the online magazine and literary journal Quill and Parchment. She co-directed and co-produced the short film Being With Eddie in 2003. It was honored at the USA Film Festival
USA Film Festival
-History:Founded in 1971, the USA Film Festival has presented the world, national and regional premieres of thousands of studio and independent feature films and short experimental, animated, documentary and dramatic films....
, and The First Native American Film Festival in Ventura County (2004). Her short film screenplay Butterfly Catcher was filmed by the Native American Film and TV Alliance (NAFATA) in 2004.
During Daisy Alexandra’s early school years, Leland-St. John became very active in fund raising which enhanced school libraries in Los Angeles through donations and a recycling program. She worked on creating a library at Pacific Hills School
Pacific Hills School
Pacific Hills School is a co-educational, college-preparatory independent school located in West Hollywood, California, serving the needs of a diverse student population in grades 6-12....
in West Hollywood, funded a playground and created a garden at The Oaks School in Hollywood.
In 1992, Timothy Leary appeared at a library fund raising event at The Oaks. When she asked what he had been up to, he told her he had discovered a new drug, then motioned for her to come closer and whispered to her “the Internet!” Leland-St. John began to investigate this new medium and published her first poem on the Internet in 1998.
After an extended illness, husband Richard Sylbert died in March 2002 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital
Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital
The Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital is a retirement community, with individual cottages, and a fully licensed, acute-care hospital, located at 23388 Mulholland Drive in Woodland Hills, California...
in Calabasas, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Three months after his death she produced a memorial tribute to him at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
. Over 700 people attended.
She co-authored the memoir her husband had begun, but left unfinished at the time of his death. (Designing Movies: Portrait of a Hollywood Artist (2006)).
Leland-St. John spends her time traveling between her home in the Hollywood Hills and her fishing lodge in the Pacific Northwest. She tours the world performing her poetry either solo or with her band of poets Poetry in Motion
Poetry in Motion
The term Poetry in Motion may refer to:*Poetry in Motion, a professional wrestling double-team maneuver.*Poetry in Motion , a #1 hit song by Johnny Tillotson *Poetry in Motion , a documentary film...
and the poet group known as "Emerging Urban Poets."