For a week or so, nothing much happened so far as my book was concerned. On July 2, for instance, I xeroxed a visual poem for use in the next issue of Estudio, the mail art magazine that had been called Velocity when Christian Herman, then I for an issue or two, edited it–each contributor sent in 100 copies of a work, on letter-sized sheets of paper, and the editor made 100 bound copies of the work received, every contributor than getting a copy. We had some excellent issues–even though all work was accepted. Such zines were one of the triumphs of the Xerox and mail art revolutions.
I also wrote a note to the editor of Between the Lines, a pamphlet/ magazine devoted to baseball stats, about Andy Hawkins, a pitcher who had pitched a no-hitter the previous night but lost the game–4-0!
Several magazines arrived in the mail; the latest Score (quite nice, with some very effective poems of Karl Kempton’s), Lost and Found Times (also good, with the usual very funny Al Ackerman stuff) and nrg, which I dodn’t have time to read, except to see that the poem and review of mine that were supposed to be in it were in it–without typos.
The next day I was pleased to get a post card from Richard Kostelanetz saying he’d gotten my book and read it at once. The part he liked best was the last part. (He’s not too interested in Pound, Stevens, Yeats, etc., and I doubt he was excited by my description of my work to construct a sonnet.) His “principal criticism” of the book was that it hadn’t dealt sufficiently with alternative poetries and poets. I agree that it could have done a lot more–but it was intended to be introductory. He also asked me if I’d be willing to critique a 26-page introduction he’s written for a proposed collection of his work and I said sure. All in all, I took his card as a good-sized compliment. The book has already started becoming a part of the culture of my times! I wrote back to him almost immediately.