...archivist, ethnomusicologist, student of anthropology, record collector, experimental filmmaker, artist, bohemian and Kabbalist. Smith is a well-known figure in several fields. People who know him as a filmmaker often do not know of his 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music; folk enthusiasts often do not know he was "the greatest living magician" according to Kenneth Anger. Smith died at the Hotel Chelsea in NYC. [http://frankhaines.blogspot.nl/2006/08/] Harry Everett Smith (May 29, 1923, Portland, Oregon – Nov. 27, 1991, NYC); visual artist, experimental filmmaker, record collector, bohemian, mystic, and largely self-taught student of anthropology. Smith was an important figure in the Beat Generation scene in NYC and his activities, such as his use of mind-altering substances and interest in esoteric spirituality, anticipated aspects of the Hippie movement. Besides his films, Smith is widely known for his influential Anthology of American Folk Music, drawn from his extensive collection of out-of-print commercial 78 rpm recordings. A brochure accompanying an exhibit of Smith's string figures stated: "First described in Western anthropological literature by Franz Boas in 1888, these patterns – made by looping or weaving lengths of string into geometric forms or shapes that often evoke familiar objects – have been produced throughout history, both as a secular pastime and as a spiritual practice.... Smith left an unfinished 1000-page manuscript on string figures, along with an extensive collection of figures that he had created.... In Nov.1991, Smith suffered a bleeding ulcer followed by cardiac arrest... His friend, poet Paola Igliori, described him as dying in her arms, "singing as he drifted away".... His ashes are in the care of his friend, longtime participant in New York's Beat scene, Rosemarie "Rosebud" Feliu-Pettet, whom Paola Igliori has described as Smith's "spiritual wife." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Everett_Smith] undefined

More on Google