January 17, 1967, Cleveland Plain Dealer

-- by Gene I. Maeroff 

A New York City Physicist who thinks the D. A. Levy case "is giving Cleveland a black eye among all civilized people" yesterday provided $2,500 necessary to post bond to get Levy released from Cuyahoga County Jail.

Levy, the avant-garde poet accused of publishing and dispersing obscene literature, surrendered himself yesterday morning to Common Pleas Court.

He was arraigned, pleading not guilty, before Judge Frank D. Celebreeze and was jailed for several hors before the bond money was posted – in $10s, $20’s and $50's – by his lawyer, Jonathan S. Dworkin.

"THE CHARGE against Levy is ridiculous. He is being pushed around and I don’t like seeing people pushed around," said Jack Ullman, a research associate at Columbia University, who provided the bond money by wire from New York.

Ullman said he first met Levy in a University Circle bookshop and was impressed immediately by his sincerity. Ullman had been in Cleveland working on a research project by Columbia and Case Institute of Technology.

Dworkin said last night:

"Next move will be to file a pleading to the indictment -either a motion for a bill of particulars or a motion to dismiss the indictment.

"WE’RE INTERESTED in finding out what the specific charge is. All we know is that he is charged with disseminating obscenity during 1966. We want to know when the alleged act occurred and what it was."

Levy was indicted secretly Nov. 28 by the Cuyahoga County Grand Jury. Police had been seeking him since Jan. 5, when an arrest warrant was issued.

Levy’s day in court included a tongue-in-cheek commentary by Judge Celebrezze on the income of a poet.

"You write poetry… do you sell it?" asked the judge.

"About 89 cents worth a day," responded the beleaguered bard.

"THAT’S NOT MUCH to get for your poetry. You should charge more."

Levy, 24, appeared in court without the beard he had been wearing recently. His long hair had some semblance of having been combed and he wore black pants, a blue shirt and a tattered zipper jacket. He refused to give a home address.

His reaction to being jailed:

"I’m going to write a poem on it. There was no harassment. I want to do my poem about the finger-print taker. He was a real craftsman."