{"id":1757,"date":"2012-04-13T14:19:53","date_gmt":"2012-04-13T18:19:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/?p=1757"},"modified":"2013-12-18T21:01:29","modified_gmt":"2013-12-19T01:01:29","slug":"mcnair-to-hall-october-22-1980","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/mcnair-to-hall-october-22-1980\/","title":{"rendered":"McNair to Hall: October 22, 1980"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\"McNair-to-Hall-10-22-1980\"<\/a>\"McNair-to-Hall-10-22-1980\"<\/a>\"McNair-to-Hall-10-22-1980\"<\/a>\"McNair-to-Hall-10-22-1980\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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

October 22, 1980
\nDear Don,<\/p>\n

How do you like my new note paper? I\u2019m not sure
\nI do, but Diane bought it for me, and here, we waste
\nnothing!<\/p>\n

You were good to take the time to warn me about the
\nTeaching of Creative Writing in America. I am so often
\nidealistic about the teaching of anything<\/span>. Though I
\nshould certainly know better by now, I still<\/span> imagine the
\nperfect class, the perfect approach, the perfect colleagues.
\nI fear my mind is clouded (so to speak) with such thoughts
\nas I dream of a job as an instructor of writing.<\/p>\n

You may be right in questioning my move from
\nColby-Sawyer. Here, in any event, is my case against
\nColby: Enrollment there is declining. In the past year,
\nthe decline has been quite serious. Though I have
\ntenure, I am not certain whether the College itself
\ndoes. I do not relish the fight which may be
\ncoming for the dry end of the deck <\/del>dock. And I worry
\nthat if I don\u2019t try to move now, before I am 40,
\nI may face an even tougher time later, with
\nemployers who are looking for a prettier, and younger
\nface.<\/p>\n

Of course, those \u201csub-literate\u201d girls do<\/span> get me
\ndown occasionally \u2013 as do some of the less visionary
\nfaculty members I have to deal with in the maintenance<\/p>\n

2\/<\/p>\n

and development of the American Studies program.
\nAnd I am not at all happy with the pay scale at
\nthe College, which is not likely to improve any time soon.<\/p>\n

[Written in margin<\/em>: But this seems ungrateful as I reread
\nand I should add that I have made a few good friends at CSC, have
\nhad some<\/span> very good students, and have often been treated generously by the institution —]<\/p>\n

Yet I am torn. I have a sabbatical coming up
\nnext year. If I were to leave this year, I would
\nmiss that \u2013 and more time off for writing. (However,
\nstaying for the sabbatical would mean staying for one
\nyear beyond<\/span> the sabbatical year\u2026two years in all.)
\nAlso, I would miss northern New England in the (likely)
\nevent I had to leave the area. Needless to say, I
\nwould also miss the proximity to you at Eagle Pond Farm.<\/p>\n

Since receiving your letter, I have<\/span> decided to try for
\njobs combining literature and writing, and emphasizing
\nthe former. My credentials are better for that sort
\nof position anyway, and I certainly would not want
\nto end up in the lizard-infested swamp you describe.
\nBesides, I would miss teaching literature. I am glad
\nfor your guidance there.<\/p>\n

It could<\/span> always happen that after all my efforts,
\nI wouldn\u2019t land a job. That would settle the whole
\nthing for me \u2013 I would stay two more years, period.
\nAnyway, I will keep you posted, and should this letter
\noccasion new thoughts on the matter, I\u2019d be happy to
\nhear what they are.<\/p>\n

I was happy to learn of the reading you and
\nJane will give at Carl\u2019s next Monday. Of course
\nI will be there. It will be good to hear Jane read<\/p>\n

3\/<\/p>\n

(I\u2019ve never heard her before) and to hear some of her
\nnew work. And I look forward to hearing again
\nsome of the wonderful poems of Kicking the leaves<\/span>.
\nDo you take requests? Would you consider reading
\n\u201cFlies,\u201d one of my favorites, which I\u2019ve never
\nheard you read? I would also love to hear an
\nearlier, shorter poem \u2013 one whose title I never can
\nrecall \u2013 about the public urinals. That poem, too,
\nis a particular favorite.<\/p>\n

But these may not fit your format for the evening,
\nand I will be most grateful to hear whatever you
\nmay decide to read. (Believe it or not, I can still<\/span>
\nhear whole passages of poems you read during that
\nwonderful evening at Colby three years ago!) I
\nshall be sorry to miss the trumpeting, bowing
\nand flugling you do to \u201ctune up\u201d before the
\nreading. I can picture the chipmunks and other
\npoor dumb animals fleeing deep into the woods
\nas you prepare yourself on the way over!<\/p>\n

Anyway, Diane and I are glad to be beginning
\nnext in this week in this most positive way. We will
\nsee you Monday!<\/p>\n

Love,<\/p>\n

Wes<\/p>\n

P.S. Wanted to tell you that I will not be sending the
\nrevision of the \u201cfat\u201d poem I just completed or
\nanything else I have worked on \u2013 for a long time.
\nThis time I mean it. You are right that
\nfinished poems should be kept for awhile.
\nCertainly all<\/span> poems should be given time. And
\nwhen one is writing during a grant or sabbatical
\nperiod, there is a tendency to want to
\nfinish<\/span> everything and count it all up<\/span>. I have found
\nthat a destructive inclination, and I am trying
\nmightily to resist it \u2013 to let poems develop in their
\nown<\/span> time, whether it happens to fall within the
\ngrant period or not. Whenever you may get poems,
\nthough, rest assured I am working, working.<\/p>\n

P.P.S. I was delighted with your prediction about Davison.
\nWhether it proves out or not, I am glad for the
\nFaith it shows you and Joey have in my poems.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\n

A note from McNair about this letter<\/span>:<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0The reading I refer to was given for guests at the home of the English department chair at Colby-Sawyer College, Carl Cochran. My teasing about Don’s “flugling,” etc. plays off his own comic description of preparations for his reading three years before….. The “fat” poem mentioned in the postscript is “The Fat People of the Old Days,” discussed with Don in Section III of our correspondence and still underway.<\/p>\n

Read Flies<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(published version)<\/span><\/p>\n

Read The Repeated Shapes<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(published version)<\/span><\/p>\n\n

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

[Click image to view] October 22, 1980 Dear Don, How do you like my new note paper? I\u2019m not sure I do, but Diane bought it for me, and here, we waste nothing! You were good to take the time to warn me about the Teaching of Creative Writing in America. I am so often […]<\/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":[35324,35504,42976,42963,293],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1757"}],"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=1757"}],"version-history":[{"count":42,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11322,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1757\/revisions\/11322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}