Freddie Herko was one of Andy Warhol’s very first film stars and his best friend, Diane di Prima would become the most prominent female beatnik, in the male dominated “beat generation”. The two would fall out over di Prima Marrying Freddie Herko’s Ex lover, Alan Marlowe. But before Freddie leapt to his death from a 5th story window.. Diane di Prima’s poems would be discovered at a New Jersey Crime scene, and labeled as obscene, leading to her arrest by the FBI..

Freddie Herko and Diane di Prima had been close friends for years, when Freddie brought home an unemployed actor, named Alen Marlowe. One morning, when di Prime arrived at Freddie’s apartment, for their usual morning coffee date. She discovered a man sitting at Freddie’s kitchen table. Diane knew right away, that this was going to change things between her and Herko. Freddie was going to be putting a huge amount of energy into Allan, He was no longer going to have the time to maintain a very close relationship with her.

Freddie Hurko, who normally had a revolving door, of men leaving his apartment, in the morning, found himself completely taken with Allen, an out of work actor and former male prostitution from Europe. He moved Alan in immediately. Needless to say there was tension between Allen Marlowe and Diane di Prima from the very beginning. Despite this, di Prima, Marlowe and Hurko all managed to work together long enough, to help establish The New York Poet’s Theatre.. at least, this is what most of the reporting suggests, but a quote from di Prima, on Warholstars.org, suggests that Hurko was not actually there, at the founding of the poets theatre.

 “I walked with James Waring, John Herbert McDowell, LeRoi Jones, and Alan Marlowe to a notary’s office, to complete the first steps in the process of founding the New York Poets Theatre. We were, the five of us, the founding members, and looking back I find it significant that Freddie [Herko] wasn’t there… “

Despite this mutual success, Diane quickly decided, she no longer wanted to be a downstairs neighbor to Freddie and Alan and she began looking for an apartment in a different area of town. She felt that Alan Marlowe was actively pressuring her to leave. Meanwhile, the relationship between Marlowe and Hurko, was deteriorating. They were fighting endlessly on and of stage during rehearsals at the “Poets Theatre” and it was causing havoc backstage. According to di Prima, the cause of the fighting, was both parties desire to be the passive sexual partner.

When Diane had found a new apartment, in November of 1961. She left her old apartment for Alan (Who was still living with Herko) to use a an office. From Warholstars.org “when she returned to collect her journals from her old apartment, she was horrified to be told by Alan “with some satisfaction” that he’d thrown them out. When she ran out to retrieve them they had already disappeared. She remembers Alan’s response: “Wasn’t it a shame, Alan said, just that morning he’d seen some local teenager sitting on the stoop, reading a volume of the journals. And he said it with something like a sneer.”(285)“

Diane had just finished settling into her new apartment, when she got a call from Freddie. He and Alan had broken up and Freddie was beside himself. He came her apartment and then ended staying on her sofa, for several weeks. di Prima would later describe, Herho’s mental breakdown, crying late into the night. Diane put the blame completely on Alan Marlowe for Freddie’s breakdown.

After several weeks, Freddie moved out of Diane’s and inexplicably, Alen Marlowe moved in. It’s unclear why di Prima allowed Marlowe to move in, but what is clear, is that the sexual relationship between the two began almost immediately afterward…

Meanwhile, in February of 1961 Diane had become the co-editor of a mimeograph newsletter, “the Floating Bear” the newsletter was rapidly produced and distributed by mailing list. Guest editors of “the Floating Bear” included both Billy Name and Alan Marlowe. The bi-weekly publication was rapidly growing it’s audience.

Six months later, on August 8 1961, according to FBI documents, an individual was taken into custody, for “unlawfully fleeing the state of New Jersey to avoid prosecution for armed robbery.” The individual “was the released on bond in Laredo, Texas, while awaiting extradition to New Jersey. He failed to appear for his extradition hearing and his bondsman discovered that” the individual “had disappeared with his family.”

“During the course of his efforts, to trace and locate” the individual “the bondsman discovered nine pamphlets captioned “The Floating Bear” among personal effects abandoned by” the individual “the pamphlets appear to be a newsletter published semimonthly. The editors are identified as Diane di Prima and Leroy Jones and the address of “The Floating Bear” is shown as 309 East Houston Street, New York 2, New York.

Some of the publications appear to be obscene and several contain derogatory remarks concerning the United States Government and Government officials.”

In total there were nine issues of “The Floating Bear” that were recovered by the FBI. Issues #4-12. After an investigation, Diane di Prima would be arrested and taken into custody by FBI agents. She was brought up on charges and although, ultimately she was acquitted by a Grand Jury, di Prima would continued to be targeted by law enforcement for years afterward.

Diane di Prima would remain in her role as editor of “The Floating Bear” until 1969.

Shortly after the physical relationship began, between Diane di Prima and Alan Marlowe, The pair quickly married, and left New York for California. Their union would produce 2 children two children, Alexander and Tara Marlowe..

When the pair returned to New York so di Prima could introduce Alen to her parents, several months later, di Prima spoke of her meeting up with Freddie. She recounts, almost casually, the obvious resentment she received from Freddie, for “stealing” Alan from him. The love triangle between best friends Herko and diprima, over Alan Marlowe remains one of the biggest question marks in the “Freddie Herko story. It is un known to what extent the relationship and subsequent marriage between Diane di Prima and Alen Marlowe effected Freddie Herko’s escalating drug use.

It is well documented, that in the early 60’s Freddie Herko, began hanging out with Billy Name, at Andy Warhol’s Factory. Eventually catching the eye of Warhol, himself, who bacame facinated by the Poet Theatre’s most prominant male dancer and former child musical prodigy.

Freddie was was featured in three of Warhol’s earliest films. The Thirtheen most beautiful Boys, Haircut and Rollerskate. But Diane di Prima and Alen Marlowe, were also featured in one of Andy Warhol’s films. Andy had suggested, that he would like to visit di Prima’s home in California, to film her and Marlowe for a day.

Warhol arrived at di Prima’s California home in January of 1964, at the invitation of di Prima, to film her and Alen. He shot a short film of Diane and Alan, that was only a few minutes long, not the originally planned “day long” shoot. The film would later be shown along side Warhol’s screen tests. But the footage is not technically a screen test, but a self contained 3 minute film. It’s unclear how di Prima and originally be came acquainted, but Andy Warhol was a frequent guest at the Poet’s theatre, which di Prima co-founded.

The week before, Freddie Hurko, leaped out of Johnny Dodd’s 5th story window, to his death. Freddie arrived at Diane di Prima’s apartment, while she was having a party. After he finished picking out a record to borrow, from Diane, he invited everyone at the party to the to a performance at the apartment (The Opulent Tower) he was staying at the following night, where he said he would be leaping of the roof. The invited guests, including di Prima, kept their distance from The Opulent Tower, on that night so, the party did not go forward and their was no leaping.. that night.

From Warholstars.org “Diane Di Prima ran into Freddy on the street on the day that he died: October 27, 1964. He was sleeping on the street after being kicked out of Deborah Lee’s apartment and was “using amphetamine and talking strange”. He told Diane about one acid trip where he “had seen his dancer’s body with acid eyes, and seen how he had ravaged it with speed and neglect. Or, as he put it, he had ‘Destroyed his house’.”(DP397) The next day Diane received a phone call from artist/performer Charles Stanley, telling her that Freddy was dead.”

On October 2,1964 Freddie arrived at the 5th floor apartment of former lover and Judson Memorial Church, concert Lighting Director, Johnny Dodd. Herko was trembling and filthy. After taking a bath, according to Andy Warhol, in Popism, via Pat Hacket: “Freddy put Mozart’s Coronation Mass on the hi-fi. He said he had a new ballet to do and he needed to be alone. He herded the people there out of the room. As the record got to the ‘Sanctus’, he danced out the open window with a leap so huge he was carried halfway down the block onto Cornelia Street five stories below…

For the twenty-six nights following Freddy’s death, the group at Diane di Prima’s apartment met formally to read the Tibetan Book of the Dead… There was a memorial service for him at Judson Church, but so many people showed up that there was another one for him, at the Factory. We showed the three films.“

Alen Marlowe was one of the pallbearers at Freddie’s funeral.

In 1969 Diane di Prima Divorced Alen Marlowe. There is no mention of Alen Marlow in any of the subsequent interviews and biographies of Diane di Prima. The Marlowe connection to di Prima (with the exception of their 2 children) is detailed only in the telling of Freddie Hurko’s legacy as an early Warhol star.

Diane di Prima released her Magnum Opus “Loba” in 1978. In 2009 she became San Francisco’s Poet Laureate. Diane di Prima died on October 25 2020, she was 86 years old.