{"id":1334,"date":"2012-02-14T17:45:01","date_gmt":"2012-02-14T21:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/?p=1334"},"modified":"2013-11-07T21:27:20","modified_gmt":"2013-11-08T01:27:20","slug":"mcnair-to-hall-august-24-1979","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/mcnair-to-hall-august-24-1979\/","title":{"rendered":"McNair to Hall: August 24, 1979"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\"McNair-to-Hall-08-24-1979-Page-1\"<\/a>\"McNair-to-Hall-08-24-1979-Page-2\"<\/a>\"McNair-to-Hall-08-24-1979-Page-3\"<\/a>\"McNair-to-Hall-08-24-1979-Page-4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[Click image to view]<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

August 24<\/p>\n

Dear Don \u2013<\/p>\n

It has suddenly occurred to me that I never answered your
\ngood letter about my book and where it might be published. This
\nlapse does not indicate my indifference \u2013 far from it. In fact,
\nI have taken your words so seriously, making them part
\nof a conversation with myself, that I\u2019ve forgotten to communicate
\nwith you<\/span> about my responses.<\/p>\n

In brief, then: While I would probably consider publishing
\na second book of poetry \u2013 perhaps a second, smaller collection \u2013
\nwith a small press, I would rather place my first book
\nwith a \u201cname brand\u201d publisher \u2013 a \u201cGM,\u201d to quote you.
\nIt\u2019s that I\u2019ve spent years putting this collection together,
\nand I\u2019d like to make the biggest splash possible with it.
\nIn the event that I can\u2019t find my GM, I\u2019ll try the other
\nalternatives. And thanks, by the way, for putting the case
\nfor publishing with the small press so clearly before me.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been working on a handful of poems \u2013 some of which
\nwill appear in the revised^ as per your suggestion manuscript of my book. I
\nenclose two of the poems for the revised manuscript. I will
\nsend others as they are finished. I\u2019m pulling the two
\n\u201cdirty poems\u201d out of the book \u2013 they seem to break<\/p>\n

2\/<\/p>\n

the tone of that section and the book as a whole \u2013 and I\u2019m
\nchanging certain sub-groupings and sub-headings.<\/p>\n

You will be the first to see the final product. I write
\nso much and so little that I frustrate myself, and
\neveryone else, I fear. Still, I hope to have the new book
\nfor you soon.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, thanks for all of your encouragement.
\nI would be lost without it.<\/p>\n

All the best to you and Jane,<\/p>\n

Wes<\/p>\n

DRIVING POEM<\/p>\n

In the room
\nwhich makes trees go by
\nand grass run
\nalong the edge of the slow
\nfield and farmhouses turn
\nsmall and far away
\nrevealing one
\nby one their windows<\/p>\n

OLD TREES<\/p>\n

By the road
\nin the field, they stand<\/p>\n

lifting branches
\nthey cannot remember,<\/p>\n

rocking shut
\nin the wind.<\/p>\n

In some other world
\nthey grow such trunks<\/p>\n

and hurled their leaves
\nacross the sky.<\/p>\n

Here, emptyhanded,
\nthey wait<\/p>\n

for the end which has been
\nhappening for years.<\/p>\n

Growing o\u2019s
\naround telephone wires,<\/p>\n

tethered to farmhouses,
\nthe old trees.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n

\n <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Click image to view] August 24 Dear Don \u2013 It has suddenly occurred to me that I never answered your good letter about my book and where it might be published. This lapse does not indicate my indifference \u2013 far from it. In fact, I have taken your words so seriously, making them part of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2341,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[803,35504,42971,42963,293],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1334"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2341"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1334"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10816,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1334\/revisions\/10816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}