tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444082152312444929.post820487884397561539..comments2024-02-15T22:18:00.385-07:00Comments on Bobby Byrd: Curbstone Sandy TaylorBobby Byrdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990783036661848472noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444082152312444929.post-19804754254322811022007-12-27T13:30:00.000-07:002007-12-27T13:30:00.000-07:00ALLEN KORNBLUM, founder of COFFEE HOUSE PRESS, for...ALLEN KORNBLUM, founder of COFFEE HOUSE PRESS, forwarded me this note that he sent to the Coffee House Board:<BR/><BR/>To the board, staff, recent board members, authors and friends of Coffee House Press<BR/><BR/>A few days ago, a friend and fellow small press publisher, Alexander “Sandy” Taylor, died of a stroke. Sandy and his equally passionate, dedicated wife, Judith Doyle, ran Curbstone Press from their home in Willimantic, Connecticut. I’ve attached a document with an article and a more formal obit, copied off the internet.<BR/><BR/>In a flurry of emails about his passing, another small press publisher, Bobby Byrd from Cinco Puntos Press, mentioned two things: that “Sandy certainly kissed death in the mouth. Knowing Sandy, he probably even got a little tongue action too.” He also said that the last time he saw him, Sandy told him that he hoped his funeral would prove to be Curbstone’s best fundraiser ever.<BR/><BR/>I mentioned that last part to one of my few friends outside the world of literature, and he gave me a funny look and said, “He really wanted his funeral to be a fundraiser for his press? Man you guys are tough.” I wouldn’t contest that.<BR/><BR/>But as to Bobby’s first statement—I don’t know if Sandy kissed death in the mouth, but I know he’d given life more than one great big juicy smack in the lips. Curbstone Press publishes a wide range of literature, with a special emphasis on books that promote social justice, including a substantial Latin and South American list, and a strong Scandinavian list (the guy spoke a lot of languages). <BR/><BR/>But as we all know, the American left has often doomed itself with its grim, gloomy presentation. For Sandy, literature was life itself, and he took on life with more than a smile—he looked at the terrible injustices of this world, and fought back with with one of the greatest laughs I’ve ever heard (kin to Anselm Hollo’s great earthshaker). <BR/><BR/>Small press publishers take upon themselves the weighty responsibility of presenting the work of gifted writers to the world, and Sandy fully understood the implications of that weight, the importance of that responsibility. But fulfilling it didn’t weigh him down, it lifted him up. Of all my colleagues, Sandy was the one who always reminded me that publishing was about joy. <BR/><BR/>Of course it’s my job to raise money for Coffee House, and I’d like to thank all of you who have donated to the Press. But if you have a little left in your coffers, please join me in honoring Sandy’s wish that his send-off prompt a little fundraising action for Curbstone. The following link will take you to their fundraising page, and if you click on the “give with a credit card” line, you’ll see there’s room for an affiliation. If you want to write Coffee House Press board, staff, author, friend—to quote another Coffee House author, Andrei Codrescu, “that would be very comradely.” <BR/><BR/>Curbstone’s donor page is: http://www.curbstone.org/index.cfm?webpage=10<BR/><BR/>Wishing you all a safe Christmas and New Year’s season on our snowy, windy roads,<BR/><BR/>And a wonderful New Year for us all,<BR/><BR/>AllanBobby Byrdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17990783036661848472noreply@blogger.com