Portolano: A Film About Jack Mueller

Portolano weaves together interviews with literary icons such as Neeli Cherkovski and Jack Hirschman, archival photographs, audio recordings and ephemera of the legendary North Beach, San Francisco scene of the 70's and 80's to create a vibrant, poetic portrait of Jack Mueller.

Mueller was a literary icon, educator, organizer, ocean sailor, mountain climber, poet and cultural leader in the arts. In the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, Mueller gained a reputation among the post-Beat poets in the Bay Area literary scene with his readings and cultural performances. Lawrence Ferlinghetti, renowned poet and co-founder of the landmark City Lights bookstore in San Francisco, said, “Jack Mueller is the biggest-hearted poet I have ever known.”

  • Kyle Harvey
    Director
  • Kyle Harvey
    Writer
  • Danny Rosen
    Producer
  • Jack Mueller
    Key Cast
  • Art Goodtimes
    Key Cast
    Fantastic Fungi
  • Neeli Cherkovski
    Key Cast
    Bukowski: Born Into This, Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton
  • Wendy Videlock
    Key Cast
  • Jack Hirschman
    Key Cast
    Red Poet, One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur, The Hotel Upstairs
  • Agneta Falk Hirschman
    Key Cast
    The Hotel Upstairs, Fikapaus
  • Danny Rosen
    Key Cast
  • George Scrivani
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    54 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    October 1, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital / Blackmagic
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Kyle Harvey

Kyle Harvey is an American poet, filmmaker, photographer, songwriter and artist.

Harvey was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award (Hyacinth, Lithic Press 2013) and winner of the Mark Fischer Poetry Prize. His poems have appeared in A Dozen Nothing, American Life in Poetry, Dirty Chai, Dream Pop, Electric Cereal, Empty Mirror, Fat City Review, Heavy Feather Review, HOUSEGUEST, Metatron, New Bile, Ossuary Whispers, Pilgrimage, Pith, Poems-For-All, Reality Hands, SHAMPOO, Think Journal, The Wallace Stevens Journal and elsewhere. Lithic Press published his serial poems July and Farewell Materials, while Reality Beach, recently, a package of broadsides titled, The Alphabet’s Book of Colors: Supplemental Notes for Philipp Otto Runge’s Die Farbenkugel.

Solo, and in various bands, Harvey has been nominated for and/or won mulitple Omaha Enterntainment & Arts Awards. He has been fortunate to share the stage with Deerhunter, The Great Lake Swimmers, Adam Franklin (of Swervedriver), Cursive,, Daniel Johnston, The Mountain Goats, David Bazan, The Old 97’s, Spoon, Bright Eyes, The Good Life, Criteria, Frank Black (of The Pixies), The Stills, Cowboy Indian Bear, The Haunted Windchimes, The Refreshments, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, The Samples, Art Alexakis (of Everclear), Jake Bellows, Denison Witmer, Jeff Hanson, Jeffery Lewis, The Faint, Superchunk, Ben Kweller, Mike Ireland, William Elliott Whitmore, Blue October, Mason Jennings, Eric Bachmann (of Crooked Fingers and Archers of Loaf), Scout Niblett, Jeremy Messersmith, Jay Farrar, David Rawlings, Mates of State, Dave Dondero, Milagres, Acid Mothers Temple, Willy Tea Taylor, Jonatha Brooke and many more.

He is currently at work on a film about the writer Neeli Cherkovski called, It's Nice To Be With You Always, a poetry manuscript titled The Alphabet That Never Recovers, and translation of Camino del Ñielol by Chilean poet Teófilo Cid. He lives with his wife and children in Fruita, Colorado.

Curriculum Vitae: https://kyleharveypoet.com/about/

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Director’s Statement

Jack Mueller moved water, moved digital trillions. No less to more than a guess, Jack was the new molecule of free speech, changing worlds by changing meanings. In his life, he was many things–literary icon, poet, cultural organizer, educator and sailor. He once made a Mohave coyote eat his own shit.

He used to call me late at night, his basso profundo voice rumbling beyond an evening of cocktails, sagging the lines to rattle the small speaker in my cell phone. He’d often say something like, “I lost another tooth today. It fell, splashing into my soup,” or, “I just lost one of my front teeth.” He was always revising the details, adding notes to his portolan.

In April of 2017, Jack Mueller, renowned poet of San Francisco, New Orleans, and the Western Slope of Colorado, died in Grand Junction, Colorado, of cancer, at the age of 74.

Here in the West, the light always seems to run out of land. Though Jack’s was no different, his flame is kept lit by the many he has touched.

“Jack Mueller is the biggest-hearted poet I have ever known,” said Lawrence Ferlinghetti of City Lights in San Francisco.

A fixture in the ‘70s/80’s San Francisco scene, Jack could often be found holding court in the bars and cafes of North Beach. Artist Agneta Falk Hirschman reminisced on his charismatic magnetism, saying, “His presence is very much still felt here.”

In his 15-year role as the Executive Director and Chairman of The National Poetry Association, he organized thousands of readings, performances and festivals, eventually being named one of the best cultural organizers in the Bay area. Bukowski biographer and torch-keeping poet Neeli Cherkovski recalls his close friend fondly, “Jack Mueller remains a literary hero in North Beach. He Has left many influential poems to be read and treasured. He illuminated the San Francisco streets in the ‘70s and ‘80s.”

Along with San Francisco poet laureate Jack Hirschman and artist Kristen Wetterhahn, Mueller founded the Union of Street Poets in San Francisco. “He was responsible for thousands of poems reaching people in their daily goings. Jack was a true comrade and is much beloved,” said Hirschman.

In the early 2000s, Jack moved to Ridgway, Colorado, where he continued to encourage, challenge and inspire those around him. Poet and publisher Danny Rosen said, “In addition to the wide impact Jack Mueller had on poets throughout Colorado, he was also instrumental in the birth of Lithic Press, which arose from the manuscripts and loose papers piled on his dining room table. It seemed obvious I should make books of his chaotic gatherings.”

Similarly, it felt obvious to me that I should make a film about Jack. And so it was, and so I did. With the help of Danny Rosen, some camera gear was purchased, along with a ticket to San Francisco.

Through interviews with literary icons such as Neeli Cherkovski and Jack Hirschman, archival photographs, audio recordings and ephemera of the legendary North Beach, San Francisco scene of the 70's and 80's Portolano weaves together a vibrant, poetic portrait of Jack Mueller.