Comments on: The Death of Bill Cannastra

By: Marya

Marya — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 02:12:35 +0000

Lynne, I am sorry for your loss. I would love to look at Bill’s astrology chart and include his birth time, if known. If you have that information and are willing to share his birth time, please do.

By: Marc Arsenault

Marc Arsenault — Thu, 12 Nov 2020 21:43:54 +0000

Link not working for me. Here’s the page at Archive.org – https://web.archive.org/web/20200215201217/http://brianhassett.com/2019/04/bill-cannastra-joan-havertys-loft-2/

By: Brian Hassett

Brian Hassett — Sun, 09 Jun 2019 11:07:39 +0000

If anyone’s interested, here’s a whole story on Bill with a bunch of photos and details of his (and his friend’s) life in the loft on 21st Street . . .

http://brianhassett.com/2019/04/bill-cannastra-joan-havertys-loft-2/

By: juan manuel

juan manuel — Thu, 23 May 2019 17:52:59 +0000

Hi. I am from Argentina and I would like to know if someone can send me information about Bill. Thank you so much!

By: Lynne Cannastra

Lynne Cannastra — Fri, 12 Apr 2019 15:41:43 +0000

To all
Yesterday I sent pictures of Bill Cannastra as well as photos of his loft to the Beat Museum. If any if you are interested contact me. I am hoping these can be enjoyed by all.

Lynne Cannastra

By: Lynne Cannastra

Lynne Cannastra — Mon, 25 Feb 2019 17:29:28 +0000

Peter,
I found the pic, but don’t know who the man is next to Bill.

thanks
Lynne Cannastra

By: Peter Hale

Peter Hale — Tue, 22 Jan 2019 18:17:59 +0000

Hi Lynne, So great to hear your accounts of Bill. Curious if you’ve seen this photo that’s been around of him shirtless with a friend? Sorry I can’t attach it here but it’s on our website (www.allenginsberg.org) in the instagram section just to the right of MLK. Guessing it’s from the late 40s. People have been asking who his friend is, and for that matter what the circumstances of that photo are. Curious if you know anything about it. Thanks! (and thanks Jed, as always!)

By: Caspar Williams

Caspar Williams — Mon, 22 Oct 2018 11:34:03 +0000

Dear Ms Cannastra –
Surely there is a great biography of your uncle Bill to be written, before the memories of him vanish completely, and you would be the person to write it – or at least provide some essential material. Just a thought.

By: Lynne Cannastra

Lynne Cannastra — Sat, 16 Jun 2018 13:41:33 +0000

Hi-
Bill Cannastra was my uncle, and I can try to give you all as much info as I know. Bill and my dad grew up at 525 Pennsylvania Ave in Schenectady NY. It was a modest 2 family, and very small. My grandfather worked in a mica factory as a supervisor, and his extended family was “typical italian”.
The family was in little falls NY and ran a produce operation, made wine, etc. There were 2 factions of the family…my grandads side and my grandmothers side. My grandmother disapproved of my grandfather’s family giving wine, etc to the kids.
Anyway, My dad always said that Bill was very very smart. His childhood name was Woody. He was a voracious reader, and back in those days my grandmother enrolled in a book club just for him. She bought him all the classics, opera, gregorian chants,etc. I actually have a ledger of all the books purchased for him and it was extensive.
The family had land in Truro, and travelled the old route 6 from home…it took hours..Upon arriving my grandmother forced a line up on the ocean and made the kids take deep breaths of the ocean air. Unbelievably, the parents left Bill and my dad Fred alone camping for weeks on end with a large bag of potatoes and they fished and made due. There was a school teacher that lived near by that kept an eye on the camping kids. They returned every year, and yes Bill worked on a fishing boat for a while.
So, Bill went to University of Michigan for undergraduate studies, then went on to law school at Harvard. He roomed with Tennessee Williams in Cambridge. Bill did not study art as far as I know, but immersed himself in that world.
I have some pictures of his loft in NYC somewhere.

best, Lynne

By: judith Richland

judith Richland — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 21:56:48 +0000

Lynne Cannastra, I am also interested in information about your uncle Bill Cannastra. You mentioned that your father, and his family (their parents?) spent many summers camping in Truro. In researching Jackson Pollack and Tennessee Williams in Provincetown, during the early 1940’s I know that they hung out together. His friendship with Pollack s mentioned specifically in a biography about Lee Krasner. Pollack and Cannastra’s escapades were so wild that she had Pollack’s brother come up to Provincetown to take Pollack back to NYC. I am interested in learning when the family first came up to Truro. Did Bill study painting or art? How did he meet these artists? I did read that he worked on a fishing boat which sailed out of Provincetown. Do you know if worked other places in Provincetown? Thanks so much for any feedback you can give me.