• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
1Richard Grayson
Summer in Brooklyn
1969-1975
Monday, May 26, 1975
A kind of manic Memorial Day. This morning I droveinto Manhattan & went to the old U.S. CustomsHouse (a magnificent building) to the Second N.Y.Book Fair. Last summer I went to the first one, at theCultural Center on Columbus Circle - that placeowned by Huntington Hartford.All the small presses & little magazines & variousfeminist, Third World, gay & radical publications hadset up exhibits, just like last year's. It was a kind ofhuge candy store for me, going from table to tablecollecting leaflets & catalogues, & looking somewhatwistfully at all the books, pamphlets & magazines Icould not afford to buy, & signing up for mailing lists.At the table for The Magazines - 6 fairly well-knownpublications including
Fiction
(published by MarkMirsky at CCNY - his new novel just came out,published by the Fiction Collective) &
Partisan Review
 ,I saw a somewhat familiar figure with a
Parnassus
head visor. I asked him if he was Herb Leibowitz & hesaid yes & I told him I was Richard Grayson. He saidhe enjoyed many parts of my thesis, particularly "ThePeacock Room." I thanked him for the kind words &
 
2Summer in Brooklyn
told him I'd drop off the other copy of my thesis at hisoffice so I can get my M.A. this summer. He saidthey're having a meeting of the M.A. Committee onWednesday, & they're probably going to eliminate thecomprehensive exam. I told him I was teaching at LIU& said I'd see him around. He's the editor of
Parnassus - Poetry in Review
& a frequent bookreviewer for the Sunday Times.The Fiction Collective had a table, but the coordinatorof it, Peggy Humphreys, would be there onWednesday. Moving from table to table, I feltsurrounded by kindred spirits: poets, fiction writers,literary people. (It probably was a great place to getlaid; various black-stockinged girls with grannyglasses & long dresses were similarly moseyingalong.)I came across the
New Writers
table & introducedmyself to the editors, Connie Glickman & MiriamEaston (both pleasant, Jewish & 40ish), whom I'vecorresponded with. They showed me Volume 2,Number 3 of
New Writers
with my story in it; Idecided to buy a couple of copies even tho they saidthey'd just mailed my contributor's copies out to me.They said I should send them another manuscript. Itfelt surprisingly good to see my name & "RampantBurping" in print; I was more than a little excited, &when I came home, Mom & Dad made a semi-big fussover the magazine.
 
3Richard Grayson
Lest I should get a big head, however, I ran into aneditor from a little magazine who had rejected "AliceKeppel." I didn't say who I was, but got to talking tohim, & he said he always sent criticism except whenrejecting manuscripts of no value whatsoever.Needless to say, I got my story returned that way,without even a note.But I feel at home in the semi-underground,somewhat counterculture literary world. I see it'smuch easier to publish poetry than fiction & mucheasier if you're a woman (& probably easier still ifyou're a lesbian).Alice, my own friendly neighborhood little publisher,came over this afternoon after finishing the latestissue of
Henrietta
. We had a raucous time, for Alice isstill the best raconteuse money can't buy; even Mom& Dad think Alice is a genuine original, a kook.We watched "Another World" (Steve Frame was killedin a copter crash today; the actor playing him haddemanded better scripts & was summarily fired) &took a test in the issue of
Cosmopolitan
that Alice brought over, to see what kind of lover we are.(Apparently I'm a manic lover, Alice an eros type.)Alice saw Mr. Blumstein yesterday at the WashingtonSquare art show - she's so crazy about him - & thenwent to meet Andreas. Alice says I must see theapartment (she still calls it "Renee's place" for lack of a better name): they've painted a fake fireplace on the
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...