{"id":1403,"date":"2012-02-22T13:35:11","date_gmt":"2012-02-22T17:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/?p=1403"},"modified":"2013-12-18T20:18:05","modified_gmt":"2013-12-19T00:18:05","slug":"mcnair-to-hall-september-19-1979","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/mcnair-to-hall-september-19-1979\/","title":{"rendered":"McNair to Hall: September 19, 1979"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\"McNair-to-Hall-09-19-1979\"<\/a>\"McNair-to-Hall-09-19-1979\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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

Sept 19, 1979
\nDear Don —<\/p>\n

I am extremely glad you like the poem, since I
\nwas quite worried about it. I believe you about the
\nepigraph, I\u2019m not sure about the word \u201cyearning\u201d
\nyet, but I\u2019m thinking about it.<\/p>\n

I hope you like the enclosed – please let me
\nknow when you can. Both poems would be a
\npart of the revised book manuscript.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sorry about the reading. If the coffers
\nwere my own this year, I could perhaps have
\ndug deeper. Still, I appreciate the opportunity
\nyou opened. I will mail the book tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Today, at 4:55 PM, I am on my
\nway to the mail with this letter —<\/p>\n

Thanks for everything —<\/p>\n

Wes<\/p>\n

HAIR ON TELEVISION<\/p>\n

On the soap opera the doctor
\nexplains to the young woman with cancer
\nthat each day is beautiful.<\/p>\n

Hair lifts from their heads
\nlike clouds, like something to eat.<\/p>\n

It is the hair of the married couple
\ngetting in touch with their real feelings for the first time
\non the talk show,<\/p>\n

the hair of young people on the beach
\ndrinking Cokes and falling in love.<\/p>\n

And the man who took the laxative
\nand waters his garden
\nnext day with the hose
\nwears the hair<\/p>\n

so dark and wavy
\neven his grandchildren were amazed,
\nand the woman who never dreamed tampons
\ncould be so convenient wears it.<\/p>\n

For the hair is changing people\u2019s lives.
\nIt is growing like wheat above the faces<\/p>\n

of game show contestants opening the doors
\nof new convertibles, of prominent businessmen opening
\ntheir hearts to Christ, and it is growing<\/p>\n

straight back from the foreheads of vitamin exports,
\ndetergent experts, dog food experts helping ordinary housewives discover<\/p>\n

how be healthier, get clothes cleaner and serve
\ndogs meals they love in the hair.<\/p>\n

And over and over on television the housewives,
\nand the news teams bringing all the news faster
\nand faster, and the new breed of cops winning the fight
\nagainst crime, are smiling, pleased to be at their best,<\/p>\n

proud to be among the literally millions of Americans everywhere
\nwho have tried the hair, compared the hair and will never go back
\nto life before the active, the caring, successful, the incredible hair.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\n

See a selection of McNair’s manuscript notes and drafts<\/span><\/a> <\/span>of “Hair on Television.”<\/p>\n\n

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

[Click image to view] Sept 19, 1979 Dear Don — I am extremely glad you like the poem, since I was quite worried about it. I believe you about the epigraph, I\u2019m not sure about the word \u201cyearning\u201d yet, but I\u2019m thinking about it. I hope you like the enclosed – please let me know […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2206,"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\/1403"}],"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\/2206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1403"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11273,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1403\/revisions\/11273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}