1997-2000

published in whitewalls magazine, edited by Anthony Elms

The saddest bedsit in London

Shawn Calvert, whoever he may be

My first publishing-related job involved securing reprint licensing for language arts textbooks. Some authors didn't have agents to negotiate their contracts; pre-internet, it took some sleuthing to find contact info and get approval before press time. I needed to secure the rights to an excerpt from Gwendolyn Brooks's book Maud Martha, and eventually found the Chicago address where I needed to send my request. A couple of months later, I received a response saying the Ms Brooks would prefer that we used a different excerpt from her book than was requested. But by this time, the pages had already been designed; the publisher sent her a letter trying to clear his original selection, and she replied with the fax below. 

I love the way she eviscerated his letter, and then continued her note using what looks like whatever scraps were laying around; and the way she repeats my name like a dirty word ... it FREAKED ME OUT. 

tiny miracle zine

Sketchbooks