{"id":2498,"date":"2012-05-10T15:33:56","date_gmt":"2012-05-10T19:33:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/?p=2498"},"modified":"2013-12-18T15:17:53","modified_gmt":"2013-12-18T19:17:53","slug":"mcnair-to-hall-january-16-1984","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/mcnair-to-hall-january-16-1984\/","title":{"rendered":"McNair to Hall: January 16, 1984"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\"Letter<\/a>\"Letter<\/a>\"Letter<\/a><\/p>\n

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

January 16, 1984<\/p>\n

Dear Don,<\/p>\n

Sometime when it\u2019s convenient, would you please
\nlook the enclosed over?<\/p>\n

The interview with Begiebing (did I tell you?)
\nhas come and gone. The results should appear
\nat the end of this month of the beginning of
\nnext. I await, cringing.<\/p>\n

He told me he has decided to open<\/span> the thing
\nwith the story I told him about how I got
\nacquainted with you, and how you got to
\nknow \u201cmy work.\u201d There were many questions
\nabout that, I guess because of the Rayno
\narticle. I only wish I had thought to
\nspeak about Jane<\/span> in connection with our
\nfirst meeting. But I didn\u2019t think, and
\nprobably that is only one of my oversights.
\nSo, as I say, I cringe.<\/p>\n

2\/<\/p>\n

Got a rejection from U\/Maryland today. I
\nimagine everyone<\/span> wanted to go there. Missouri
\nand Denison also rejected me. Writing things
\nlike \u201cJack Cooch\u201d, I am not entirely sure why
\nI want to move. Mixed feelings<\/span>!<\/p>\n

While I\u2019m on the subject of rejection: sent
\nto the Poetry Society of America an application
\nfor the Alice Fay diCastagnola award ($2,000
\nfor work-in progress). Given the line requirement,
\nall I could send (with appropriate rationale)
\nwere two poems: \u201cMute\u201d and \u201cWhen Paul Flew Away.\u201d
\nHave also asked Missouri to enter my book in
\nthe Melville Cane and Great Lakes competition
\nfor a first book. I am not holding my breath.<\/p>\n

I appreciate your comment that I do
\nyou a favor by being here, and writing what
\nI write. The favor you return, tenfold! Best
\nto you, Jane and the writing both of you
\nmay be attempting!<\/p>\n

& love,
\nWes<\/p>\n

JACK COOCH<\/p>\n

Jack Cooch, superintendant
\nof the town dump,
\nhas wrapped his house
\nin plastic, a sure sign
\nof winter. It sits<\/p>\n

by the ramp to 89
\nlike a great loaf
\nof bread nobody wants.<\/p>\n

Outside on the porch
\na mound of seatlessness,
\ndrawerlessness, and other
\nkinds of imperfection,
\npicked with Jack\u2019s own eye
\nfor the perfectly good.<\/p>\n

Some winter days
\ndriving toward Concord,
\nyou find him under that roof
\npast saving, rummaging
\nwith a toothless
\nsurmise. Some nights<\/p>\n

you see him in a room
\nbeyond the blowing plastic
\nof his windows, moving
\nin the afterlife
\nof discarded things.<\/p>\n

–Wesley McNair<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\n

Editorial about this letter:<\/strong><\/em><\/span>\u00a0 Begiebing is Robert Begiebing, a professor at New Hampshire College (now Southern New Hampshire University) who interviewed me at Don’s suggestion for The New Hampshire Times<\/em>…. The Rayno article was written by Garry Rayno for\u00a0The Argus Champio<\/em>n concerning my Devins Award…. The “rejections” of paragraph four are related to my job search.<\/p>\n

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

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

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

[Click image to view] January 16, 1984 Dear Don, Sometime when it\u2019s convenient, would you please look the enclosed over? The interview with Begiebing (did I tell you?) has come and gone. The results should appear at the end of this month of the beginning of next. I await, cringing. He told me he has […]<\/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":[60366,35504,77589,42963,293],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2498"}],"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=2498"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11174,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2498\/revisions\/11174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}