All correspondence to:
TEMPORARY CULTURE
Post Office Box 43072, Upper Montclair, NJ 07043-0072
Electronym: wessells@aol.com
Use the electronic address for requests to be added to or dropped from the mailing list.
!!PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THE ORIGINATING ADDRESS!!
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AVRAM DAVIDSON SOCIETY MEETING
The inaugural meeting of the Avram Davidson Society was held in New
York City on Friday, 23 April 1999 (the 76th anniversary of Avram's birth).
Four directors of the Society met with others interested in Avram's life
and work for a thoroughly enjoyable luncheon at the Zen Palate restaurant
overlooking Union Square. We sat around the large round table long after
all the other working stiffs had returned to their offices.
The first Publication of the Avram Davidson Society,
The
Last Wizard with A Letter of Explanation, was unveiled at the luncheon
and special presentation copies distributed to all who attended. (Details
of the publication and how to order it are given below or at the Avram
Davidson Website.)
Conversation touched upon many subjects, including
the past and current state of science fiction publishing, different phases
of Avram's career, and future publishing projects of the Society. Members
from Australia, England, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine and Vermont, who found
themselves unable to attend, sent good wishes and words of praise for Avram's
writings.
We all agreed to make the meetings a regular thing
: a second meeting will be held in New York City in September (details
will be announced in a future issue of the District Mail). At the next
meeting the board will discuss whether to publish the minutes of the inaugural
meeting in the District Mail.
A splendid time was had by all.
-- Henry Wessells
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The Last Wizard with A Letter of Explanation
The first Publication of the Avram Davidson Society, The Last Wizard
with A Letter of Explanation by Avram Davidson, was published at the
inaugural meeting of the Avram Davidson Society, in New York City on 23
April 1999.
Copies were distributed to all present, and to a
number of others whom geography prevented from attending.
Guy Davenport wrote from Lexington, Kentucky :
Avram's explanation is worthy of Bierce or Twain. Sarcasm as Samurai
clean cut. Avram's ear was Mozartian! Cooler than Buster Keaton, his deadpan.
". . . and entertain at anniversaries, christenings, and bar mitsvahs"
!
The hoariest of jokes, acting on misunderstood requests or instructions
(e.g. the plot of "The Pirates of Penzance"). Trust Avram to transmute
it into a diamond.
[Ed. note : that first paragraph is itself quite a diamond.]
The first printing of 125 numbered copies consisted of 20 presentation copies not for sale and copies numbered 21-125. This printing sold out upon publication.
A second printing of 125 copies, May 1999, is now available.
Size : 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches, xii pages. Printed offset and stapled in
stiff paper wrappers.
The price is $10.00 per single copy (includes postage).
For orders of three or more copies, the price is $6.00 per copy (includes
postage).
To order send a cheque in U.S. funds, payable to Henry Wessells, to
:
Temporary Culture
P.O. Box 43072
Upper Montclair, NJ 07043-0072
Orders may be placed by e-mail to wessells@aol.com and will be held until payment is received.
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The Avram Davidson Society encourages members located in other regions of the country (and overseas) to hold meetings : the sole requirements are that those attending have fun, that Avram's life and work be discussed (for at least five minutes), and that a report of the gathering be forwarded to the Editor for publication in the District Mail.
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The URL of the Avram Davidson Website is:
http://www.kosmic.org/members/dongle/henry/
Submissions of additional material for the Website are welcome.
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Next issue will be published in July 1999.
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