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Winter 2007 Newsletter
A Message from the President Dear Members and Friends of the Robinson Jeffers Tor House Foundation, On behalf of the Robinson Jeffers Tor House Foundation, I express profound gratitude for your continuing support and encouragement in 2007. This year, unprecedented numbers of guests from all over the world were inspired and awed by Tor House and Hawk Tower. In addition to guiding over 3,000 weekend visitors, our docents conducted tours for fifteen separate groups of students, from the 3rd grade through university. Jeffers is continually being introduced to new generations of readers. Tor House remains one of the most important literary sites in America, comparable to Emily Dickinson’s house in Amherst or Longfellow’s homes in Cambridge and Portland, Maine. Visitors to Tor House are, in their enthusiasm, not unlike those who make pilgrimages to Stratford-on-Avon. The 2008 Fall Festival (October 10-12, 2008) will mark the 30th anniversary of the Robinson Jeffers Tor House Foundation. For three decades, the Foundation has diligently protected and preserved the property and promoted the poetry of Jeffers. For the time being, however, we make our year end appeal to help us fund our activities. At the same time, we continue to ask your help in matching Peter Bennett’s 2005 $100,000 Challenge Grant intended to assure our fiscal solvency. Thank you for all your steadfast and generous support. We wish you all the very best in 2008. Alex Vardamis, President The Wild God of the World, the 2007 Fall Festival
Sunday’s Poetry Walk, led by John Courtney and Jean Grace, emphasized the enormity of Time. Assuming Point Lobos the beginning and Hawk Tower the present moment, poets and fans of Jeffers walked Carmel River Beach and metaphorically strolled through the ages of the Universe. The presence of man, in relation to the history of the universe, they learned, is like the filing of a fingernail to the body of a human being. What an enlightening and thought provoking conclusion to a fine Fall Festival! Jeff Norman, 1951-2007
His knowledge of the natural and cultural history of Monterey County was unsurpassed. He co-authored Images of America: Big Sur, published in 2004, and Big Sur Observed (1994). The Jeffers community will remember him as a frequent speaker at Tor House events. He shared his expertise with participants in the 2000 Fall Festival bus trip down the Old Coast Road to Big Sur. He will be sorely missed.
New and Renewed Memberships (August 21, 2007 - November 2007) PATRON MEMBERS Jerome M Nunes SPONSOR MEMBERS
MEMBERS
CONTRIBUTIONS (September - November 2007)
Corporate Grant
Big Sur Marathon Grant Lou Ungaretti
Additional Contributions (September – November 2007) – to $100 Poems in the Attic by Alex A. Vardamis (Excerpts from a talk presented at the RJA Conference and at Tor House during 2007 - Part 1)
The Stone Mason of Tor House
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In 1966 Melba Berry Bennett’s The Stone Mason of Tor House was published by Ward Ritchie Press. In 2006, the author's son, Peter Bennett, thought it time to re-issue this important book. Using the book's word-for-word content and overall flavor as a guide, a handsome new volume, hard-bound in linen and enclosed in a slipcase, has now been published by the Tor House Foundation.
Bennett’s biography, with foreword by Lawrence Clark Powell, was highly praised by James Rorty, a major critic of the time. The Stone Mason of Tor House, written by Melba Berry Bennett, a contemporary and close Jeffers family friend, offers a unique glimpse into the writing of Robinson Jeffers and life at Tor House. It is an indispensable addition to any Jeffers library.
Available exclusively through the Foundation Bookstore, the special introductory price of $25, plus postage, is guaranteed until 2008. To order The Stone Mason of Tor House, link to the Foundation Book Store, or phone 831-624-1813.
Thank You Thanks to Stanley Willis, Jr. for the gift of First Editions of Such Counsels You Gave to Me and Be Angry at the Sun, inscribed by Jeffers, and for a framed note written by Jeffers to Mr. Willis with an envelope addressed by Una. Thanks to David & Susan Wirshup for three books, including two fine prints by Ward Ritchie and two journals and a critical supplement to a journal, which reference Robinson Jeffers or his associates. Thanks to Jitka Elton for two Czech translations of Jeffers: Mara, and Ženy od Mysu Sur. Thanks to Beth Wright for Robinson Jeffers commemorative stamps. Thanks to Jane Harris for a copy of Not Man Apart donated to the Docent Lending Library. Thanks to Carol Marquart for a biography of Mabel Dodge Luhan donated to the Docent Lending Library. Thanks to Barbara Livingston for the gift of an original framed painting of Tor House by the late, revered San Francisco cartoonist/artist Phil Frank RJA Annual Conference Mark your calendars! The Robinson Jeffers Association Annual Conference, dedicated to “Jeffers, Language, and Nature,” will take place during the weekend of February 16-17, 2008 at Cabrillo College, Aptos, CA. The keynote speaker is David Mason, Colorado Springs writer, poet, translator, and former Fulbright Fellow to Greece. For further information: see www.rja.org or contact Rob Kafka, at rkafka@unex.ucla.edu. Poetry Two Poems by Laura Newmark, Carmel, California
Extraordinary Winter Waves Robinson Jeffers Tor House Foundation 2008 Reading Series
Please see our Events page for details.
The Robinson Jeffers Tor House 2008 Prize for Poetry
Please see our Poetry Prize page for details.
The Tor House Foundation regrets the passing of one of our earliest docents, Dottie Moore. Dottie served as a docent from 1983 to 1993 and was a Life Member. As her friend, retired docent Phyllis Kelley wrote: “I have never known anyone with such a love of life, style, charm, and grace. She taught me so much and we had fun doing the flower arrangements for special occasions at Tor House together. She was an avid reader and enjoyed doing research about Jeffers and Tor House.” ***** In early November the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City inducted Robinson Jeffers into its Poets’ Corner. At the ceremony Jeffers was especially praised for his environmentalism. As Charles Martin, Poet in Residence at the Poets’ Corner stated, Jeffers was a pioneer in attempting to reorient us ‘towards a new understanding of the obligations of our presence in the natural world.” Among other recent inductees were WH Auden and Emma Lazarus. ***** A major article, “Poetry in Stone,” by Jennifer Reese, appeared in the November-December 2007 issue of VIA, the travel magazine of the Automobile Association of America (viamagaine.com). The subtitle reads: “Robinson Jeffers built a magical, Hobbit-like home on the California coast.,” and goes on to note that Tor House is as “intensely cozy. . . as one of Beatrix Potter’s rabbit holes.” Purists may question the comparison, but the Foundation reports that never in recent memory have they enjoyed such a surge in interest. Visitors may come to see a “Hobbit house,” but they leave having discovered Robinson Jeffers, and appreciating his poetry and his philosophy. ***** The Association of Fundraising Professionals, Monterey Bay Chapter, at their annual National Philanthropy Day Awards Luncheon honored John Varady, Tor House Trustee. “His sustained, very generous financial and moral support for the Robinson Jeffers Tor House Foundation’s Prize for Poetry, since its inception in 1997, has resulted in the Prize becoming an internationally coveted award.” Honorees in recent years have included Peter Bennett, Howard and Zaza Skidmore, Ripple Huth, Joan Hendrickson, Ollie Collins, and Mary Aldinger, all of whom have, with extraordinary generosity, given of treasure, time and talent to further the mission of the Foundation. The Last Word from Jeffers in an election season Advice to Pilgrims
Robinson Jeffers 1948 The editorial staff of the Tor House Newsletter welcomes a discussion of this poem. Please address comments to Newsletter Editor, Tor House Foundation, PO Box 2713, Carmel, CA 93921 or fdv@redshift.com. Space permitting, letters to the editor will be published in the next issue. All letters will be posted on our web site: www.torhouse.org.
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Robinson Jeffers Tor House
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