Kane on Friday - Leftover Wife - Interview With Widow of Dylan Thomas
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ย. 2024
- Broadcaster Vincent Kane interviews Thomas' widow Caitlin.
originally broadcast in 1977,
Caitlin Thomas (8 December 1913 -- 31 July 1994), née Macnamara, was the wife of the poet and writer Dylan Thomas
Her brutal honesty is so refreshingly endearing. Wonderful find on TH-cam.
Such an intelligent, charming woman. I would never have got the full picture of who Dylan was without having listened to her anecdotes and her touchingly honest stories
I love this interview! What an complete and bluntly honestest individual. Caitlin's spirit is second to none. This interview is a treasure.
Thanks Ludo Ditto
Dolores Purdue
All the love to you Dolores!
She was a horrible nasty hag. She was always jealous of her husbands fame.
@@degsbabe how did you know that?
it's a candid question really I want to understand she seems so honest
She has a beautiful voice and the most endearing honest character. I could spend hours in her company talking about nothing in paricular
I recommend Caitlin's book
"Double drink story" it's raw , beautiful and an amazing novel about her life with Dylan.
She's spicy! Love her! A phenomenal interview. A true gem for lovers of Thomas and poetry alike. How often do we get such a candid peek into the frailty and tenderness of a legend?
This brings closure to the arc of the Thomas myth for me - the orotund word-drunk voice on a record I listened to as a teen, the Collected Poems in hardcover I won in high school, the FitzGibbon biography, and Caitlin's "Leftover Life to Kill." Visiting his boathouse and grave on the hill in Laugharne. Finally this, the brutally honest and charming survivor.
From her book:
"For me, a man who does not drink is distinctly indecent... and the mere thought of going near a man who is not mellowly pickled, and whose breath reeks of his native fleshly self, is squeamishly unpalatable to me."
*Caitlin Thomas*
What a beautiful woman. And a totally honest interview.
This is the most brutally frank exposure of one's self I've witnessed. What a relief this must have been for her.
What an amazingly accurate interview, so glad I found this.
Such a remarkable and honest lady. History will record your suffering. History will always link you with an undeserving Dylan Thomas. That maybe your legacy but you can be rest assured that his poetry was inspired by your steadfast love.
What an amazing interview with an incredibly beautiful and honest woman! I learned quite a bit about Dylan through her. I'm left hungering for more. Now I want to learn more about Caitlin's life. Awesome documentary. Thank you.
Caitlin is so honest .I'd love to hear more .she is so interesting .her book "double drink story "is one of my favourite books ,full of love ,regret and of course drink .wow.Caitlyn was so clever and full of wild adventure ,her writing is beautiful x
Well enjoy that .. The rest of us will enjoy the genius works of the poor b'stard she inflicted herself on.
This is THE DYLAN. Such a damned waste, death at 39. I wish I had seen this when Caitlin was alive. Her honesty is both touching and romantic and yes, so open- what would Dylan think? He once described himself to an American audience as "a fat poet with slime volumes". His poetry gives me goosebumps- a sorry excuse I admit to the academics, not worthy, but I love his work- Namaste
When a a widow has the sigh of relief, one begins to see that all was a breath.
Not exactly a glowing advertisement for matrimony....truly a great interview. She was a rock.
Superb woman..funny, blunt and a good raconteur
I'm so delighted to stumble across this interview! I love her honesty and straightforward answers.
Dark does seem rt
"all these women pissing their pants in the audience" i felt that
This is a brilliant interview and mainly because Caitlyn speaks so candidly ❤️
Remarkable and welcome candour. Who dares speak the truth these days so openly?
A truly extraordinary interview.
Great interview. Very impressive. Personal story and beautifully told.
She is much more than a wife, let alone a bad one (someone mentioned she was, and a woman too), she's fabulous!
Open minded, not drawn to bellowing as her husband was.
I like her, he was lucky to be married to her as she sounds very accepting of his genius and it's foibles, except his infidelity.
Her intelligence is to be marveled.
He was lucky!
He needed luck like her like he needed an early fking death. Which he got....
Caitlin was telling him not to go ,his agents in USA fed him speed and opiods to keep him touring ,Dylan had bronchial pneumonia and needed antibiotics and hospital which he was denied .the tragedy was not about going to USA but leaving Caitlin in a situation where she should if never of been left .the other tragedy was Dylan's care whilst he was in the USA.to blame his death in drink and sex is a complete travest ,Dylan was used ,rumbled and his talent was squeezed from him when other more clever people around knew he needed to stop asap.
To blame Caitlin for anything is wrong ,there were two victims here .
Caitlin had no part in this .she alone was fighting her demons and in need of help when Dylan left ,Caitlin says she had to get help when Dylan died .Can you imagine how tough it must of been to have been left in the "bogs "
So damned lonely ,confusing ,and she was pregnant .what an ordeal for her .
These two were lost when apart ,something kept them strong when together ,but a relationship line that would never work if they were apart ,one would go downhill ,
Caitlin is to be applauded how she pulled herself out and up ,that requires true bravery when all around you us crumbling .Caitlin became a talented writer and her relationship with Dylan and the story of those two fascinates me to this day
But what I adore is Dylan's poems and Caitlin ,her wild , irrepressible ,nature is so interesting x
But suffering was involved here ,true suffering,pain ,loss , separation,fear and crisis .look beneath what you think.is truth xx
A wonderfully intelligent, confident, nonconformist, honest woman, definitely not just the survivor to some legend (though I do like Dylan Thomas), but a fascinating person herself. I totally disagree with Francesca Diano's comment.
In the process of reading her book now, absolutely fascinating
............Dylan Thomas take note...your courage was only in your pen.!!.....she had to come out of her head and live reality....that takes real courage.!!.....
Reality suks
So true that
Excellent. Thank you.
I am supposed to have met Caitlin with my grandmother in Carmarthen in the late 1960s, my grandmother almost fainted, I just about remember, when I was six. She was there for some probate tidying up, royalties, staying at the Royal Ivy Bush.
it don't come more candid than that
Fantastic woman - thanks for this.
Strong lady, good constitution, like the hills
Her blunt honesty shows up the phoniness that is everywhere these days.
wow!amazing interview.
Candor - it seems the word, the right word in what (or who) she is concerned.
shes superb
The wine and the men of Italy
This man is a complete genius I saw "is" because he lives forever in his brilliant words.
Great interview. I love her honesty. I am shocked to hear that Augustus John was such a sexual predator. Disappointing to hear that such a wonderful artist was basically a paedophile.
Never be shocked to find out that humans are universally flawed.
His Caedmon recordings by Harper Collins NYC are now legendary. 🙂
Brilliant
I ADORE READING
Alcohol and sexual exhaustion
Rubbish.so.incorrect
Dylan had bacterial chest infection ,leading to.pneumonia and no doubt prob sepsis .
So tragic his doc supplied Dylan with narcotics instead of hospital IV antibiotics,fluids .which may if saved his life and certainly helped his horrendous illness.
Certainly wasn't alcohol and sexual exhaustion .the man was poorly .
Yes he did drink but he was in need of medical urgent supervision,but his crew wanted Dylan to tour USA and doped him.up..when a person has a chest infection severe ,opiods can be the worse thing ,breathing etc .Dylan's crew prevented him from real medical hospital care because it would interfere with his tour ,as a result Dylan died prob of sepsis and pneumonia , and overwork.ehen he should of been in hospital
certainly not coma due to alcohol and sex!!! Utterly false.
When she says Dylan didn't want to talk about poetry, and if you listen to him in the link below, recorded in New York less than 2 weeks before his death, you'll notice his witty self-deprecation is very revealing, and typically Welsh.
th-cam.com/video/gyavcLn2_uo/w-d-xo.html
Crikey really? Just Welsh? And who are these other self deprecating Welsh celebs?
Know her granddaughter, Jemima, Lou's daughter. Lovely lady, was very close to Caitlin, look alike too. 🙂
Dylan Thomas: brilliant poet, prince of stinkers.
Dylan used to get off the train from Paddington, in Carmarthen, and used to throw money at the taxi driver to get him back to Laugharne before the Brown's closed, and it stayed open all night.
Caitlin used to beat Dylan up after another one of his dalicences, and Dylan took it, she used to beat him like a sack of Pembrokeshire spuds, straight out of the earth.
I know. If he'd done that to her... I'm sick of Feminist saintly myths. I was stunned to read what happened to Erin Pizzey in the '70s. She opened the first battered women's shelter in the world, and ended up having the bomb squad opening her mail as Feminist groups threatened her, her children and her grandchildren. She was forced to quit England in the early 1980s.
Caitlin is so honest , interesting ,and her energy and beauty shines .The guy interviewing her is dreadful but she takes over and her honesty is palpable X
Y'think
Augustus John was a ummm...?
😳
Oh the good ol' days. 😁
How could she NOT want him and NOT as a bedmate but to both be faithful to each other. Why should she expect him to be faithful if it’s not wanting him as a bedmate.... She contradicts herself. Then revenge encounters...? If her partner hadn’t been Dylan Thomas she wouldn’t have stayed.
Malcolm Brinnin, oh dear, but I suppose all Elvis's have their Colonel Parkers.
My god, she was gorgeous, but like an Irish pitbull. RIP Cat. x 😐
Honest
Interesting that she calls him 'Dillon', which apparently he preferred, even though the traditional Welsh pronunciation is Dullan'.
The Dullan pronunciation derives from a strong Welsh accent which Dylans missus evidently didnt have ,though a lot of the politically correct commentators on the subject these days like to impress us with their all embracing cultural sophistication by their lapse into the broad Welsh vernacular pronunciation of "Dullan" like they are at one with the boyos in the valleys. ha ha.
In Laugharne he was known by the Welsh people there as 'Dullan', which as I mentioned is the traditional Welsh pronunciation - it could be argued it's the 'correct' one though I'm not going there (!) - I know because my mother knew him in Laugharne - but he grew to prefer 'Dillon' because he was teased as a child -''Dull un'. Americans assumed it was pronounced 'Dillon' - hence Mr Zimmerman's pseudonym. I'm not sure if you're Welsh Videocurious, if you are you'll know that the pronunciation of 'Cymru' is, in this case unquestionably, 'Cum Ree.' therefore the 'y' in Cymru sounds exactly the same as the 'y' in the traditional pronunciation of 'Dylan'. Sorry, are you still awake ? I'm always amused by the way so many people - including on TV - are simply unable to pronounce 'Cymru'.
Thanks Alas no I'm just London Boyo of Irish English/descent . Yes of course you are correct ,but I never heard Bob Dylan who named himself after the great man. called Bob Dullen so Dullen coming out of a proper Welsh person is how it ought to be,but from English commentators its sounds Poncy ha ha.Thanks for all your informative comments. I am old enough to remember BBC Cymru broadcasting Welsh language programmes inn the afternoon in London as a little child IO didnt know what to make of it ha ha.
@@ysgol3 the letter y in welsh is a vowel and has multiple sounds, i'd pronounce Dylan "Dillun" myself and im from south wales.
Liz Reintell..
So
on
The poor woman is a survivor to a legend and she has never recovered. What I don't like is the fact that she doesn't question at all the false statement that he died of too much drinking, when now it's now common knowledge that he didn't. He died of untreated pneumonia. It looks like she was a worst drunkhard than he was. At a certain point she says that she felt envy for him! Not really a very good wife
Francesca Diano She probably didn't know as the truth behind Dylans death was covered up and has only properly surfaced through recent investigation by a journalist. I seem to recall reading that even now the hospital refuses to release his medical records.
Francesca Diano I think it must have been very difficult to be married to a creative man, especially in those days when women were considered less than a man. That alone would make a person jealous.
Francesca Diano I think they were both very co-dependent. They fell in love through their love of alcohol and she admits that they didn't really love each other but bonded over their common love of drink. Shame that vices control the lives of so many people.
+MiyuEmi I'm not so sure. If it was pure love of alcohol why did she choose to be buried with him after all those years? My guess is she really adored those early idyllic years with him and her children at the boathouse.
They always struggled with money and i guess booze oiled the wheels. Genius has an insatiable and selfish appetite.
Mithrandir I'm sure she did adore the idyllic early years, but there was always alcohol and I've read numerous times that he chose to be with her because she didn't complain about his drinking. I wouldn't say genius is selfish either. I believe that he was a severe depressive, not only the drink, but the numerous times he is quoted as stating he just wanted to die. This was a relationship that, even if they did love one another, was doomed from the start due to what appeared to be their existing emotional problems. I think that she was unfortunately a bit co-dependent, just my opinion, based on her history. She continued a relationship with a man (the man who introduced her to Dylan) who had raped her. I don't know. It's a sad situation all around and even if she chose to be buried with him, I would wonder how much real love was there rather than familiarity and history. Their relationship didn't seem conducive to real love with infidelity by both parties, the drink obviously, the arguments, the slight violence and of course, his need to be taken care of like a child etc.
Very dis
torted view of Dylan Thomas. Could tell a lot of stories about their time in Laugharne
Come on then share some
It's actually brutally honest, nothing distorted about this but the man at beginning says he died of booze and sexual exhaustion.this is a distortion as he died of bronchial pneumonia but Caitlin is very honest
Well ... that's a big help.
"leftover wife" - what a disgusting use of language
+jeremy young What a meaningless inarticulate expression how can a wife be leftover like a dinner ha ha
I think this must be a variation on the title of Caitlin's own book: "Leftover Life to Kill".
She was a leftover wife
It's accurate .she was leftover ,from so much ,from Dylan ,drink ,the bogs,being with Dylan ,that support ,that companionship that painted over their life' of drink .
When he died she was leftover ,can you imagine how tough that was ,when she was in the bogs mentally and physically .
She had to.pull herself out .she did so amazingly but you can tell it must of been so hard .
I completely agree with you
I found it an intriguing figure of speech. I wouldn’t get outraged over such a trifle in either case
Rare use of the word 'perforce' - ! So interesting, but I find her vacuous, if in an honest strain.
😃😡🕷