Carter Kaplan to Give a Talk on July 2 at the WAH

WAH Private Library

WAH Center

My friend Carter Kaplan has been invited by another friend of mine, Terrence Lindall, to present the following talk at the WAH Center:

"Illustrating the Visions: Alloys of Art, Poetry, Politics, and Philosophy"

The talk will take place on Sunday, July 2, 2017 from 2:00 till 3:00 for no admission fee (directions), but the luncheon from 12:30 to 1:30 will cost $25. Kaplan is a professor of literature and philosophy, an author of fiction and nonfiction, and a publisher of international writing through International Authors (IA), and one might therefore expect him to be an overly serious man, but consider the fact that he has suggested that a number of mannikans be invited to attend his talk.

But let's get serious!

On display before, during, and after the talk will be IA books and original illustrations by renowned artists. Kaplan has informed me that he will be discussing my books Radiant Snow and the Bottomless Bottle of Beer (BBB), among other things, and Lindall will have his copy of the initial BBB text (a hard copy that I didn't edit carefully enough) and his BBB illustrations as part of the items on display. Other publications and illustrations are in Emanations and in Tasso's Creation of the World. Bienvenido "Bones" Banez, Jr. will show illustrations for E6 and other illustrations he's done for Emanations, along with a Michael Moorcock drawing. Troy Frantz will provide an illustration that he made for E5.

As for International Authors, it is a consortium of writers, artists, architects, filmmakers, and critics, and it publishes works of outstanding literary merit. Dedicated to the advancement of an international culture in literature, primarily in English, the group seeks new members with an enthusiasm for creating unique artistic expressions. For instance, there is Emanations. This is an anthology series - and I'm borrowing most of Kaplan's terminology - featuring fiction, poetry, essays, manifestos, and reviews. The emphasis is on alternative narrative structures, new epistemologies, peculiar settings, esoteric themes, sharp breaks from reality, ecstatic revelations, and vivid and abundant hallucinations - preferably, those achieved through authentic, intensive meditation rather than the less authentic, drug-induced sort, but to echo Publius Terentius Afer, "Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto."

The IA editors are interested in recognizable genres - science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, local color, romance, realism, surrealism, postmodernism - but the idea is to make something new, and along these lines the illusion of something new can be just as intriguing. If a story or poem makes someone say, "Yes, but what is it?" then it's right for Emanations. Essays should be exuberant, daring, and free of pedantry. Length is a consideration in making publication decisions, but in keeping with the spirit of the project, length is "open." Emanations is a continually shifting and evolving project, and contributors should see themselves as actively shaping our editorial vision and compass

The Williamsburg Circle of International Arts and Letters is the program that has invited Kaplan to give this talk. This Circle - and I think I'm borrowing Lindall's words here, though perhaps as filtered through Kaplan - is a program of the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center (WAH Center). The Circle serves as a hub for discussion of new ideas about diverse subject matters. It is especially keen to point up intersections in areas of study that on first glance appear to be contradictory, especially in the areas of art and literature. Observations on the human experience in a receptive individual can sometimes evoke intuitive leaps of creativity, bringing forth new ideas in science, philosophy, literature, and the arts. We hope to encourage this.

The Williamsburg Circle believes that a strong education in the classical humanities is a fundamental prerequisite for good citizenship, not only in Western countries, but in every country in the world today. What is "Classical Humanities"? It is nothing less than the spiritual, ethical, and intellectual foundation for Western culture. The classics form the vibrant, interdisciplinary field lying at the heart of the liberal arts. It is the lack of a common heritage and common values that gives rise to basic conflicts among peoples. A broad education in the classical humanities can bring about a common understanding and a common set of values. Engagement with non-Western classics is also necessary, of course, and is therefore to be encouraged.

Our outstanding members serve as inspiration to young scholars whose concepts are forming and who are or will be developing projects important to our 21st century civilization.

Or so is such said . . .

UPDATE: The talk is on July 2 (not July 4).

Bienvenido Bones Banez with his art on Milton's Cottage Day

WAH Center
Welcomes
John Dugdale Bradley (standing second from left)
and
Kelly O'Reilly (taking the photograph)

Terrance Lindall tells of a "[w]onderful and fruitful visit by the charming John Dugdale Bradley and Kelly O'Reilly from Milton's Cottage England!" We are invited to learn more about Milton's Cottage Day and to peruse photographs of the visit and "[r]ead about it in ISSUU MAGAZINE." In further support of Milton's Cottage, Bradley and O'Reilly "are planning major events with artists and writers and the events will be associated with the British Library, Westminster Abbey and other [important sites]."

Among such artists are Terrance Lindall, standing first from left in the photo above, and Bienvenido Bones Banez, standing furthermost right.

Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of The WAH Center: Yuko Nii Retrospective

Dunes

Yuko Nii

Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of

The WAH Center

Saturday, November 5th, 2016, 4-8 PM

The Yuko Nii Retrospective

A Special Exhibition

Curated

By

Terrance R. Lindall

Yuko and Terrance

are

currently raising funds

for restoration

of their

landmarked building,

the home of the WAH,

which continues to need extensive repairs.

See:

Press Release, Tickets, and How To Help

As one who has benefited from the generosity of Yuko and Terrance over the past decade or so, I urge you to respond generously in helping them to continue the repair work on this historical landmark that houses the WAH.

Replicas of Gislebertus Alabasters of Adam and Eve at WAH Center

Adam and Eve

Yuko Nii and Terrance Lindall have some wonderful events going on at the WAH Center, partly because they've got the only remaining replica of the Gislebertus Adam, as is noted below:

The Yuko Nii Foundation alabaster is likely the only surviving replica of this Gislebertus Adam, which makes it highly significant. It is "the completion of a great masterpiece!" What the Adam looked like was unknown to the art world until NOW . . . at the WAH Center!

"The (Yuko Nii Foundation) alabasters (of Adam and Eve), especially the Adam one, promise to be of great importance to the history of Romanesque art." Jeff Rider, Professor of French and Medieval Studies, Wesleyan University

"These are fascinating pieces (your alabasters of Adam and Eve) . . ." Robert A. Maxwell, Associate Professor, Institute of Fine Arts, The James B. Duke House, NYU

“Eve has a seductive quality that no other 12th century artist has equaled. If the other block (Adam) had survived, we would most certainly have had in it the completion of a great masterpiece” T. S. R. Boase, President of Magdalen College, Oxford.

On Display FOR THREE HOURS ONLY at The WAH Center's DINNER WITH DEVIL October 8, 2016, event description and Tickets here.

Yuko and Terrance are artists and curators who will only grow in stature in both areas, so visit the WAH Center, online or off, if you have an opportunity.

Robert Parigi Joins the Williamsburg Circle

Robert Parigi and Lady Liberty
New York City

Terrence Lindall informs us that Robert Parigi has joined the Williamsburg Circle:

Robert Parigi joins the distinguished membership of outstanding artists, scholars, composers and leaders in the arts and humanities. Robert has worked on many famous TV titles such as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV Series), Beavis and Butt-Head (TV Series), Neighbors from Hell (TV Series), King of the Hill (TV Series), Night Stalker (TV Series) and Tales from the Crypt (TV Series). He also produces illustrated books. Robert brings an energetic imagination to the Circle.

Robert was invited, of course. In  his own words:

Many thanks for your very kind invitation! I am very happy to accept, and greatly honored to be included in such company. I am touched by your kind offer.

And he signed on with "Mille grazie," which - if I recall my Latin - means, "Mill the grass," the term "grass" being another word for "wheat." I interpret this to mean that we should mill our wheat to make flour and bake bread, in other words, that we must rebuild our civilization, the West!

Well, maybe not quite all that, but he did say, "A Thousand Thanks!"

Yesterday . . .

Professor Martin Kuester
Marburg

No, not Paul McCartney, but John . . . John Milton, I mean.

Milton was the topic of my blog entry yesterday because he was the subject of a June 21st column by Simon Heffer in the British newspaper The Telegraph - a column that I only yesterday became aware of. Unlike most of what I post here on this blog, my link to Heffer's remarks proved useful, for a German scholar on Milton, Martin Kuester, commented:

Thanks, Jeffery! I'll send both links[, i.e., the newspaper column and the blog entry,] to the students in my "Milton as Writer and Literary Figure" class.

I replied that I was glad to be of service, and to bolster that support, I hereby link to another site with Terrance's Milton illustrations: the WAH Center. For a few other illustrations from Lindall's Milton-inspired art, a preview is possible here!

Terrance Makes The Telegraph

Lindall's Scroll

The Telegraph

Writing about John Milton for The Telegraph ("The marvels of Milton's back catalogue," June 21, 2016), Simon Heffer informs us that his "purpose . . . [in this Telegraph column] is to describe the achievement of John Milton, . . . the finest poet in . . . [the English] language, and [explain] how . . . [his achievement] extends beyond his famed Paradise Lost."

Of interest, then, is Heffer's choice of Lindall's artwork to illustrate his point about Milton's status as the finest poet in the English language.

Update: Here's a link to my follow-up blog entry.

Robert Parigi - a bit like Terrance Lindall

Robert Parigi

I came across an interview that Mr. Parigi gave in September 2014 with Van Gogh's Ear, Volume 11, and I could see why he and Lindall would appear to have gotten along, for they have mutual interests:

[Among other things,] Robert Parigi is . . . known as the . . . producer [of] Tales from the Crypt.

That's film, but it's the same sort of genre Lindall was working in when he was illustrating Creepy Magazine and the like. Parigi could even be Lindall:

The craziest thing I've ever done was getting into this business! I dropped out of a philosophy doctorate, with no industry connections or training, hopped a plane from New York City to L.A., and started looking for work.

Lindall also dropped out of a doctoral program in philosophy and pursued his artistic passions.

For more on Parigi, see here, here, and here.

Robert Parigi with Terrance Lindall's Madonna of the Monsters

Madonna of the Monsters

(2016)

By Terrance Lindall

A photo to Terrance Lindall from Robert Parigi, who holds in his tentacles Lindall's Madonna of the Monsters, which Parigi commissioned and about which he says:

Sorry for the casual snaps: our office is shutting down for the season, many things are in transit, and I have not yet found a frame that does justice to the Madonna. I'll try to take better pix later, and hope these will do for now.

I've mentioned Mr. Parigi before - he has a role in constructing on film part of the complex Marvel Universe.

My younger kid, En-Uk, will probably be interested to know this. He's still in high school and intends to study animation someday, so he's taking art lessons to prepare.

This will inspire him . . .

Robert Parigi Commissions a Painting by Terrance Lindall

Madonna of the Monsters
Terrance Lindall

Writer, producer, and directer Robert Parigi recently contacted Terrance Lindall to commission a painting, and after several discussions by email, Mr. Parigi suggested the following:

Here is the idea that occurred to me for the painting: The Madonna of the Monsters. A fictional (?) saint of monsters, who would have some such prayer...

Our Lady of Monsters, pray for us!
Intercede for us with the creator of Light and Dark, the Master who wrote the Law and gave us Liberty; the Sovereign who lets us do as we please, the Judge who forgives us; the Reaper who planted a taste for horror in our minds so as to win over our hearts.
Have pity on madmen and madwomen! For no monsters exist in the sight of Him who alone invented them, and who knows how they invented themselves.

Parigi adds that this was "stolen and revised without permission from Baudelaire" - a feat that I admire since I did much the same in a passage of my novella The Bottomless Bottle of Beer.

Anyway, Mr. Parigi and Terrance are speculating about further collaboration, but this might remain pie-in-the-sky since both are very busy men.

I'll let you all know if anything down to earth comes of their speculations.

Portrait of the Artists as a Young Couple!

Yuko and Terrance

Terrance Lindall sent this photo of Yuko Nii and him cavorting with a tractor on Terrance's family farm in Minnesota way back in 1968! Impressed with the apparent old age of that contraption, I wrote:

Great Photo! But did that old thing actually run? Was it a steam-powered tractor or diesel?

Terrance replied:

It ran!! My father was a great mechanic! Gasoline or diesel.

But not steam-powered, so Terrance was no steam punk . . . though the photo has a certain steampunkish aspect.

Lindall's Illustrious Illustrations: Sunday February 21, 4 PM

Creepy: Visions of Hell
Lindall's Preteritic Memories?

PORTMANTEAU CREERIE AWARD

Creepy: End of Man

Lindall's Version of the Singularity?

These illustrations above were the sort that Lindall excelled at way back in the Seventies, during my enjoyably wayward youth, when I looked at such things, but I altogether forgot about Lindall and his cheerfully, fearfully hellish artwork till the images appeared again in my mind during the Noughties as I was engaged in scholarly work on John Milton and looking through Lindall's early Paradise Lost illustrations, which dated from around the same time as the Creepy and Eerie images or a bit later, the Seventies or early Eighties, and I suddenly recalled who Lindall was, recalled that he'd also done those counter-cultural images, and realized that the intellectual painter and the rebel illustrator were one and the same artist! Here's what Lindall says about those creative Seventies:

l illustrated for some of the most outstanding science fiction, fantasy and comic magazine writers of the 20th century. The writers were winners of Hugo Awards, Bram Stoker Awards, Nebula Awards, and more. These writers wrote for Star Trek, Star Wars and other iconic popular cultural creations. Ted White, who wrote a story especially for me, was the editor for Heavy Metal Magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and Amazing Stories . . . . At the time it all seemed normal. Looking back, I realize that I was in an illustrators heaven, even though I had many more byways to search in philosophy, collecting, institution building etc.

Lindall will be giving a presentation on those years of brilliant creativity:

Special Lecture and Presentation: Sunday February 21, 4 PM - Terrance Lindall Talks About His Illustration Career in The Golden Age of Horror Comics

This memorable event will take place at the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center and will be well worth your time.

WAH Center Needs Repairs . . . and Donations!

Yuko Nii and Terrance Lindall are making an appeal for contributions toward repairs on the WAH Center's building, a New York City Landmark listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Here is their letter of appeal:

Dear Friends:

It has been a very expensive year for the WAH Center. Major repairs on our cornice have taken most of the year and we are just coming to the end of that. We need everyone to help a little bit. We have always been there for you as a great place to present, and now we need you to help a little more with a donation. Some of our friends have already given, but we need all of you to help out, if you are able. Some can only afford a little, but some of you can give more. You can see donation levels on our web-site here.

We made it easier this year to give a little and get something back too. We put up a little overview of our first 19 years on Kindle and you can buy the book below. When you buy it for $2.99 we get income.

Also on Amazon, when you shop at Smile Amazon, you'll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to your favorite charitable organization: Smile Amazon.

Another way to donate a little more is to buy our printed books, e.g., Women Forward or Friends and Mentors.

We highly encourage you to buy books, postcards t-shirts or giclee prints of the WAH Center this year to give as gifts! Or, if you sell on Ebay you can indicate a percentage of your sales to the WAH Center where we are listed as a charity!

Please help us this year!

Peace and Love, Yuko and Terry

Free to read on ISSUU, about "the greatest small museum in Brooklyn."

This is a very good institution to support. My wife and I have contributed 500 dollars, a sizable sum for our budget, but Terrance has been very generous to me in illustrating my novella for free, and Yuko graciously allowed him the time to do so.

I therefore hope that everyone will contribute a donation, too.

Pre-Mature E-Jocular-ization!

Kings County Savings Bank Building 1867
Site of Williamsburg Art and Historical Center

My friend Terrance Lindall is publicizing in advance the Paradise Lost Scholars, Artists and Collectors Weekend, October 13, 14, and 15, 2017, Celebrating the 350th Anniversary of the Publishing of Paradise Lost.

There will be a chance at publication in honor of Milton's own publication of Paradise Lost:

The WAH Center is pleased to announce that we are looking for journalistic and academic writing about Milton's Paradise Lost. We will publish these essays in a full color catalog. (Please limit your essays or articles to 1000 words max).

There is a lot more at the site, and the site will grow, so check it out - and check in from time to time to watch it grow!

Also, if you can, then send a little something to help restore the building (see above) from damage due to the elements . . .

Art thou of my view? If you like the what'ar . . .

Untitled (2010)
Tom Otterness
Byuksan Blooming Apartment Complex
Seoul, Korea
Photo by Hongsun Park
More Images

. . . then you really otter . . .

I'd of course heard of the renowned sculptor Tom Otterness, but didn't realize he had a public sculpture here in Seoul! There it is, above - a "what'ar" - my term for an untitled work of public art, in this case one showing a brazen couple walzing through life on a bag of gold, I imagine, and surrounded by money mysteriously attracted to them.

But what does it mean? Is it the two Koreas, united? Hope for a unified life free of worries? Together into the future, bound by the line that divides them?

Nahhh . . .

What this piece really means is . . . well, I'll leave that up to you to figure out. No reason I should do all the work!

I bring Mr. Otterness to your attention because he recently dropped by the WAH Center to meet my friend Terrance Lindall:

Tom Otterness, renowned American Sculptor, walked in the door yesterday on route to Welmon Sharlhorne's House of Love at P339 Gallery. Reception with The Artist: Saturday Apr 18, 6-9 pm. Tom invited Terrance Lindall to go along, but Terrance declined saying that like any Vampire he would melt if he left the WAH Center during the day. Terrance was thrilled to meet Tom for the first time. Terrance admires his work tremendously. Tom is an outgoing, charming individual. He was accompanied by his toy collie.

Tom's work can be seen in public places all around New York. He is represented by the foremost gallery here, Marlborough. Tom was fascinated by Terrance's Paradise Lost and bought a signed copy of the second proof of the Paradise Lost Gold Folio catalogue.

Terrance can take great pride in the fact that a fellow artist like Mr. Otterness has an interest in Terrance's work. Personally, I think that Terrance's Paradise Lost artworks reveal Terrance's artistic greatness. Here's Mr. Otterness taking a selfie of himself and Terrance:

Tom Otterness and Terrance Lindall

That an artist of Mr. Otterness's stature would want a photo of himself with Terrance shows the respect that Terrance's Paradise Lost art has won for him. Here's one visual reason why Terrance's art is gaining respect, Eve's Temptation:

A great image . . .

Mototaka Takano Exhibit in the WAH Center, March 21st - April 19th (2015)

A Seaside Village
Mototaka Takano

I received a notice from my friend Terrance Lindall that the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center will be exhibiting 23 of Mototaka Takano's paintings from March 21st to April 19th:

Known as a "Japanese Vlaminck," painter Mototaka Takano exhibits a collection of his large scale oil paintings at the not-for-profit WAH Center (Williamsburg Art and Historical Center), entitled "Painting Northern Snow Scenes for 35 Years." Supported by the Consulate General of Japan in New York and New York Seikatsu Press, Mototaka Takano's paintings depict the ocean shores, fishing villages, and markets in Northern Japan, primarily in Tohoku and Hokkaido. His technique reminds viewers of the oeuvre of Maurice de Vlaminck, who was one of the principal figures of the Fauve Movement. Formed in the early 20th century in France, the Fauvists were concerned with vibrant compositions, using bold colors and loose brushwork to create dynamic, expressionistic scenes. In this exhibition, 23 of Takano's paintings are displayed. His powerful work embodies the bleak, somber nature of the hard life in Northern Japan.

I think that Ms. Yuko Nii is the driving force in arranging this exhibition - but Terrance can correct me if I'm wrong - for the notice puts the exhibition in the context of Ms. Yuko Nii's "Bridge Concept":

In late October 1996, Yuko Nii founded the not-for-profit WAH Center (Williamsburg Art and Historical Center) based upon her Bridge Concept. That concept envisions a multifaceted, multicultural art center whose mission is to coalesce the diverse artistic community, and create a bridge between local, national and international artists, emerging and established artists, and artists of all disciplines. Thus, through the international language of art we come to understand each other to create a more peaceful and integrated world. The WAH Center is a force for peace and understanding and its concept is incorporated in its acronym: "WAH" in Japanese means "peace" or "harmony" or "unity."

Ms. Yuko Nii's WAH Center has definitely served as a bridge for me because I've crossed over to a new relationship with art through Terrance's friendship and generosity. Without Terrance's illustrations, my novella The Bottomless Bottle of Beer would be less colorful.

And he did it for free!

Yuko Nii: Artist, Renovator, and Director of the WAH

Beauty of Artifacts
Click Link to View Gallery 
Photo by Amy Finkel/Gothamist

Shayla Love, writing for the Gothamist in her article "Inside Williamsburg's Hidden Time Capsule: Kings County Savings Bank," introduces to a woman most of us here at Gypsy Scholar know only through our contact with Terrance Lindall. That woman is Yuko Nii, an artist who came to the States 50 years ago:

Nii moved to the United States in 1963 from Tokyo, transferring from a Tokyo university to come to Berkeley, California where her father's friend was a professor. She had $200 in her pocket when she arrived. She immediately wanted to experience the American counterculture she had heard about, and visited San Francisco. She then transferred to Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, and majored in fine arts. To stay in the US, she had to continue her education, and in 1966, she moved to Clinton Hill, Brooklyn to attend Pratt.

Nii needed a way to earn money, but didn't want a job that would take time away from her painting. She started to buy run-down buildings; the first was in Ironwood, Michigan. She liked to buy in northern states, where she would escape the heat of Brooklyn summers. After she bought a building, she would renovate it with her own hands.

She said that when she was seven years old, her parents renovated their house in Tokyo. She already had an interest in art and in sculpture - carpentry seemed to her like a form of both.

"They treated me like a little assistant," she said. "Instead of going to school, I always waited for the workers to come. And then they taught me how to use particular Japanese saws and then hammers and so on. Ever since, I'm fascinated by the things which are behind the wall."

Each time she renovated a building, she would create a studio on the first floor for herself. With her artist's sensibilities, the renovations transformed the places she bought. She would rent out the houses, and live off the rent.

"I even changed the windows, can you imagine?" she said. "Amazing what you can do when you are young. Especially artists. We are obsessed."

The rest of the article tells the story of this remarkable woman, so go read it! And should you choose to support the  WAH, click here.

Sometimes, one finds out years later . . .

Terrance Lindall
I wish this were in color!
1979 Warren Awards for Creepy and Eerie

My artist friend Terrance Lindall sent the above image in an email and remarked:

This was in Creepy #119. Never knew I got this award from Warren Communications until now!

In the book Ghastly Terror: The Horrible Story of the Horror Comics, Stephen Sennitt credits Lindall with the attempt to save the line of Warren horror magazines from extinction through his new style of cover art.

But, Terrance adds:

They went under anyway!

Such such is life. But the following anecdote from me to Terrance helps make up for all that:

I had a pleasant surprise the other day. In my position here at Ewha Womans University, one of my duties is to advise students in Professional English and assist them in finishing their senior thesis, usually 20 pages plus bibliography.

The student this year had written a shorter paper in another class and wanted to rewrite it into 20 pages. I saw that her argument was worthless and told her so. I had her explain the drama that she wanted to analyze, and I found a sentence that had a deeper theological meaning and told her that this was a key for unlocking the text's meaning.

She finished the paper in time, and I gave her a pass.

She was happy and wanted to give me a gift. I told her she could just purchase a copy of my novella on Amazon - and then buy me a coffee. Over coffee, she told me that she had visited the Amazon site but didn't know how to use it. She also hadn't understood the "Look inside the book" feature, so she hadn't seen the story's beginning.

But she did see the cover image, and asked me, "How did you get Terrance Lindall as illustrator?"

"You know this name?" I asked in surprise.

She said yes and explained that she spent two years in the States when she was 11 and 12, and to entertain herself, she read a lot of comics and remembered your name from some of what she came across in her reading.

I was much impressed. Terrance, consider yourself famous!

He replied:

That's terrific. A Christmas present to hear it!

All's well that ends well!

Mellon Grant, Digital Humanities at Berkeley, and Milton Revealed

Terrance Lindall's Paradise Lost
Digital Humanities Project
"Milton Revealed"
UC Berkeley Emeritus Professor of English
Hugh Macrae Richmond, Director
"Mellon Grant advances Berkeley's Digital Humanities"

From the WAH Center in New York City comes good news:

Artwork by Terrance Lindall for "Paradise Lost" is featured on a website for a digital humanities project, "Milton Revealed," directed by UC Berkeley emeritus professor of English Hugh Macrae Richmond.

I emailed Terrance to get more details, and he gave credit to Professor Hugh Macrae Richmond for drawing attention to his art on Paradise Lost through having it selected by UC Berkeley to illustrate the university's announcement of a Mellon Grant for Digital Humanities at Berkeley. Here are some excerpts from the article published by the UC Berkeley News Center:

With a $2 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, UC Berkeley will be making major advances in the integration of digital tools and technologies in humanities scholarship and teaching.

"Digital tools and methods such as data visualization, GIS, statistics, and text mining can have a transformative effect on research and teaching in the humanities, particularly with the mass digitization of texts and artwork. But they are unfamiliar to many humanities scholars and learning to use them effectively requires an investment of time and resources," said Anthony J. Cascardi, UC Berkeley's Irving and Jean Stone Dean of Arts and Humanities and principal investigator on the grant . . . . [This] is part of the larger initiative, "Digital Humanities at Berkeley . . . . This grant will enable us to offer intensive summer training workshops for faculty and students, to introduce them to a range of tools and methods, while providing the critical frameworks for reflection on their impact."

As part of the grant, a new fellowship program will also provide opportunities for faculty, graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to develop proficiency in the use of digital materials and tools, and to apply those skills to their research. Furthermore, the project aims to reach undergraduates by creating courses that integrate digital humanities tools and methods . . . . [T]he grant will enable students and faculty in the humanities to participate in other digital efforts on campus including the Berkeley Institute for Data Science and the D-Lab, which principally serve data-intensive research in the social sciences.

For the entire article, click here. And I hope I can be forgiven for noting that my novella is listed on Professor Richmond's website. More information is provided at Amazon.

Terrance Lindall at the End of the Old, Weird America . . .

Removal to Hell (1963)
(Charon Crossing Lake Mukooda?)
Terrance Lindall

In the image above, we see Terrance Lindall being removed to hell by . . . a Charon who looks inexplicably similar to a youthful Doppelgänger of Professor Robert Wickenheiser! But Terrance didn't know that then - not making Wickenheiser's acquaintance till 50 years later - and remembers instead:

Back at my time at the U of Minnesota after the army I worked as a night man at the mortuary in the early 1960's. After a few months on the job, the other fellows who were my seniors left for other jobs or had graduated from the University, so I got the main bedroom, the only one that was not shared. Meanwhile, . . . a new night man [arrived] who got the smallest room separated by a curtain from the living room. It was very small since it was once just a large closet. The new fellow never showed his face. Most new guys came out to say hello and chat to get to know each other. This one only came out to go to the bathroom or go down to work in the evenings as the night attendant, totally ignoring everybody. So the others grew to dislike him roundly . . . . After talking to the other guys who were saying that they did not like him, I decided to go and talk to him to see what he was all about. He was somber and truculent. I asked what he was reading, why he got a job here and about where he grew up etc. It turned out he was a poet. Eventually I entreated him to show me his work. It was superlative! He finally came around and out of his shell. After that we became very good friends. I invited him to my room and showed him my paintings and some of my own writings . . . . [He] and I did quite a few things together. We would walk through Minneapolis, down to the Mississippi. He always had a notebook. Even though he was scholarly, he had never graduated from high school. He was always on the verge of taking the high school equivalency exam, but I am not sure he ever did. He said he had an IQ of 145. I believed him . . . . One day he showed up driving a little Sunbeam car, a very sporty yellow convertible. He said he was behind on payments and he was going to enjoy it until it was repossessed. "Let them try to find it!" he said. We drove out of south Minneapolis, at high speeds of 70 MPH, blue sky overhead, sun shining and wind blowing, out to fields where we would search for bones of long dead animals. He was really good at spotting them among the weeds. We came back, hungry as hell, and chowed down with fried rice and tea at a Chinese restaurant . . . . [Once, w]e decided to buy a small rubber boat, take a bus up to Northern Minnesota and paddle across big Crane Lake to Lake Mukooda a very isolated clear water lake in the chain of lakes on the Canadian border . . . . [E]ventually my time came to leave for New York to follow a beautiful woman. I did not have room for my largest painting "The Removal to Hell." It was the largest painting I ever did, about 4 x 8 feet.

Those were times into which I was born (1957), but which Terrance (born 1944) experienced far more of, times when one could take off hitchiking across the land or paddling across some lake on an adventure into the still wild, wide, weird America.

Terrance doesn't say what ultimately became of the painting . . .