The Frank Waters
Foundation
Newsletter,
Vol. IX, No.
15 - May, 2002
Table of Contents
You may click on any of the titles
below to go directly to that location in the newsletter.
Houston
Branch
Centennial Happenings
We Still Need YOU
Doctoring The Land
"Isn't This Just The Life?"
How It Was Settled
Word Magic
Of Awards and Pink Tulips
Waters' Reflection
Remarks From Barbara Kingsolver
Congratulations!
For Sale to Benefit the
FW Foundation
Membership
Board of Directors
Barbara Waters, President
Mark Rossi, First Vice President
Tal Luther, Second Vice President
Mary Ann Torrence, Third Vice President
Arleene Arnell, Secretary
Mark Rossi, Treasurer
Marilyn Luther, Assistant Secretary
William Farr, Geoffrey Torrence, Judith Bronner
Houston
Branch
The following is an excerpt from a new posthumous
collection of Frank Waters' essays, speeches, and editorials titled Pure
Waters: Frank Waters and the Quest for the Cosmic. The essay describes Frank's
collaboration with "Bill" Branch on one of two novels written in the
'40s. This was a challenge for Waters, the loner maverick.
A few years later Bill presented MGM producers with the virtually unknown story
of the Shenandoah, the only ship in the Confederate Navy that had sailed around
the Horn and up into the Arctic and destroyed the Union whaling fleet. The
producers tentatively accepted the story, offering him $5,000 in advance to
research the facts and to write it as a novel.
World War II had just ended. I had been released from a government job in
Washington, D. C., and was in New York, anxious to return home to Taos. Late one
afternoon he telephoned me at my hotel, enthusiastically recounting the story,
and proposing we collaborate in developing it as we had River Lady. The story,
which he had titled Diamond Head, was dramatic and exciting; but I didn¹t want
to work on it. What did I know about the Civil War and sailing ships? My longest
ocean voyage had been from the port of Los Angeles to Catalina Island. Besides,
I wanted to go home and resume my own work.
Early next morning I was awakened by a telephone call from Bill's Hollywood
agent, Dave Diamond, who had flown into New York during the night and was
waiting for me in the lobby. These persistent, resourceful Hollywood agents! I
went downstairs, and during breakfast with him, Diamond half-persuaded me to
agree to Bill's proposition. The other half-persuasion, I insisted, must come
from my publishers, Farrar and Straus. We took a taxi to see John Farrar. Diamond
glowingly presented his pitch on the great novel and film possibilities of
Diamond Head.
"What do you think about
it, Frank?" John Farrar asked me.
"I suppose I could write it if Branch did all the research for it," I
answered. "But would you publish such a novel?"
"I'll publish it if you'll write it, Frank."
Diamond grinned. "That's it, then. I'll speak for Branch. Can you give me a
note of agreement to present to the MGM producers, Mr. Farrar?"
That was it, indeed; I was committed to another collaboration with Bill.
Diamond Head, novelized and filmed, he was sure would bring us in a jackpot.
Development of the story would require much work from both of us. The $5,000
advance we would split between us. With his share Bill would do all the
research, sending me the material in Taos where I would write the book.
A couple of weeks later Bill and his wife, Jeanie, set forth on a combination
research and honeymoon trip, and stopped off in New Mexico to see me. I met them
at the airport in Albuquerque and drove them up to Taos. Bill had spared no
expense in outfitting them both in new clothes, packed in so many bags,
suitcases, hat and shoe boxes that I could hardly squeeze them into the back of
my old Ford coupe. All went well on the long drive until we came to the steep
grade up from Pilar. The overloaded car simply couldn't make it. Bill was forced
to unload his 250 pounds and walk up the final hill of a horseshoe curve. In
Taos, I wanted to drive them up into a couple of mountain canyons to see the
high aspens turning yellow. Bill promptly balked, afraid of being stuck again.
Also he was eager to get along with their trip. So I soon drove them back to
Albuquerque and saw them away on the plane.
The first leg of his journey was down South to research the background of the
Confederate States during the Civil War and their desperate need to stop the
flow of whale oil that lighted the Union's cities, supplied its factories and
ships, and greased the wheels of its supply trains and ammunition wagons. Now
from the Confederate Museum and historical papers at Richmond, Virginia, there
began to come to me copies of official documents and reports, commissioned
officer rolls of the Confederate States Navy, the personal account of the voyage
of the Shenandoah by its executive officer, and a photograph of the actual flag
carried at the peak of the ship. Not content with this, Bill sent me
descriptions and photographs of many great plantation homes.
From Richmond, the Branches flew north to the old home ports of the whaling
fleet. From the Bourne Whaling Museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the Peabody
Museum in Salem, and from Mystic, Connecticut, he sent me blueprints of whaling
ships, handbooks on sailing vessels, and logs of voyages. And still more
material flowed in from the century-old Boston marine house of James Bliss &
Company, and the public library in New York.
Topping off all this information, I received an old map of Honolulu, a guidebook
to Lolani Palace, and a history of Hawaii and its native rulers from Kamehameha
I to Lilioukalani. What a thorough research scholar Bill was! We had collected
enough material for a documentary history. And what an exploit it was, this
fabulous 58,000-mile voyage of a single Confederate ship following the route of
the Union¹s whaling fleet down the Atlantic, around the Horn to the rendezvous
at Honolulu, and up into the Artic where it destroyed thirty-two vessels and
captured thirty-eight of the fleet. Virtually unknown, buried in the musty files
of a tragic Lost Cause, it proved that fact is stranger than fiction.
Utterly fascinated by it, I spent the winter retracing the voyage of the
Shenandoah in my home, eight thousand feet high in the Sangre de Cristo
mountains of New Mexico. While a blizzard hurled snow against the windowpane, I
saw outside the great ocean waves breaking against the bow of the ship. Mountain
pines were transformed into tropical palms. What a lot I learned about the
migration routes of whales. I began to feel more comfortable aboard ship,
walking to the bow and stern instead of to the front and back. But how to write
this as a fictional romance posed difficulties. Bill, upon returning home, sent
me the outline of two love affairs, and kept sending suggestions for new
characters, scenes, and events. Some of these were too outrageously contrived,
too old-fashioned. If one could only make the improbable seem possible, the
implausible sound convincing!
By spring I had finished the novel, and took the manuscript to him in Hollywood.
We went through it carefully, cutting and rewriting, and sent it to Farrar in
New York. The novel was published in 1948, followed by a Dell paperback edition,
a British edition, and a French translation.
But in Hollywood the wind had changed. The MGM producers had lost interest in
the story by now, and simply wrote off the negligible advance paid us. A few
years later another company produced a picture under the title Diamond Head. The
story was entirely different, and it was obvious the producers were trying to
cash in on the reader audience provided by the success of our own novel under
the same title. There was nothing we could do about it; titles, unlike stories,
cannot be copyrighted.
Frank Waters
CENTENNIAL
HAPPENINGS
The
latest development in our Frank Waters Centennial scheduled for July 25-28 is
the striking poster created from an original drawing of Frank done by Kati
Woodall, a teacher and artist from Taos. As
rendered by Barbara Bentley of Digerati Design using Woodall’s concept,
Frank’s head is sepia colored on the posters to represent his vital connection
with the earth while lettering shades from sepia to intense blue symbolizing his
simultaneous merging with sky and water, or cosmic wholeness.
Thanks to Kati’s generosity, the original will be auctioned off at the
Centennial dinner on Saturday, July 27. Done
in charcoal tones, it has been matted in white with a thin black strip, then
framed simply in black. The
posters, which also lend themselves to framing as keepsakes, are eleven by
seventeen inches high and sell now for $15, plus $4 shipping.
Those
who haven’t yet preregistered for this four-day, once-in-a-lifetime Centennial
event should call 505-776-8117 for registration forms - before registration
closes. We are trying to share with participants the intimate tone of
the Mabel Luhan House, which inspired some of Frank Waters’ best writing.
Compared to a convention center, this is a small venue; and we may have
to sacrifice attendance for authenticity.
It
is not made clear on the original forms that daytime activities for Thursday
through Saturday afternoon will occur at the Mabel Luhan location off of Kit
Carson Road on Morada Lane near the center of Taos. Here stimulating speeches
and papers will be presented by select speakers, scholars, and Waters fans.
The cocktail party on Thursday will be held in the old Luhan main house
up a long flight of outdoor stairs from the meeting room and main parking lot.
The Saturday night banquet will take place at the central civic center,
not the convention venue south of Taos. The
outdoor mountain man, musical, and barbecue event on Sunday will occur ten miles
northeast of town at the Waters home on El Salto Road in Arroyo Seco beginning
at 10:00 a.m. Maps will be
available.
Centennial
speeches, papers, and tributes will be published to provide an ongoing,
permanent record of the man who has been called the “Grandfather of Southwest
Literature.” Pure
Waters: Frank Waters and the Quest for the Cosmic, a posthumous
book by Waters that contains previously unpublished essays, editorials,
and speeches, will come out in July just in time for his Centennial.
These publications are in keeping with the educational and creative goals
of the Frank Waters Foundation, which conducts workshops, provides temporary
housing for artistic persons, and publishes books.
Other pertinent Waters books will be sold, along with People of the Valley broadsides handmade by Tom Leech of Palace
Printing in Santa Fe, and bronze tribute medallions created by sculptor Mark
Rossi of Tucson.
Waters’
birthday, July 25, has been proclaimed Frank Waters Day locally and statewide.
Just which writers, scholars, and entertainers will actually show up for
the weekend seems to vary from week to week, but we are reassured by one of
Frank’s favorite sayings quoted in Mary Ann Torrence’s paper: “All will
unfold as intended.”
To
see who promised to be here and who is honoring that commitment, keep checking
our website at <frankwaters.org>. The
original roll read Tony Hillerman, Rudolfo Anaya, Denise Chavez, John Nichols,
Max Evans, Vine Deloria, Jr., Alexander Blackburn, Joseph Gordon, Thomas Lyon,
Jose Martinez, William Edelen, Imogene Bolls, Mark Rossi, John Carson, Rick
Aragon, Cynthia Stacey, Tal Luther, Barbara Waters.
Also confirmed as submitting and reading papers are Linda Helstern,
Felicia Campbell, Mary Ann Torrence, John Nizalowski, David Jongeward, Ron
Kampfe, Philip Davis. And then
there are the “Maybe’s,” whom we will welcome.
One
thing we do know: YOU will have a great time at the Frank Waters Centennial to
be held July 25-28, 2002, come hell or high water.
BW
We
Still Need YOU
Even
if you can’t attend the Centennial, you can put your two cents in - or your
two thousand. As a matter of fact,
Trudy and Ed Healy contributed ten thousand, bless them!
But any amount of money to cover Centennial costs or Foundation
operations will be appreciated.
Important
writings are to be published - including at least two books - on Frank
Waters’ favorite concepts of unity and development of a higher consciousness
worldwide, which desperately need actualizing in the real world today if we are
to survive. These permanent records
will help to serve as guidelines for our future.
Publishing,
printing, advertising, posters, postage, speakers, housing, entertainment,
bronze medallions – you name it. We
need money for it.
When
you can, won’t you please send a check to the Frank Waters Foundation, an
educational non-profit organization committed to creativity?
For your benefit in making this tax deductible contribution, our tax
identification number is 86-0723866.
Again,
we sincerely hope you will offer your financial support in the near future. We are especially grateful if your contribution already has
been made in the earlier stages of our all-out effort.
THANK YOU!
Doctoring
the Land
Before
his “retirement,” Bill Farr was Frank Waters’ invaluable gerontologist in
Tucson. He now serves on our FWF board of directors and is webmaster for our
exceptional site. His wife, Elsa
Sell Farr, was a pediatrician and now serves on our advisory board.
The following lowdown on this dynamic duo is excerpted for the most part
from their last Christmas letter.
We
have had an exciting 2001 at the Sell Farm in Georgia during our first full year
of being in the beef cattle business. We
have learned a great deal and have more to learn.
Actually, it is much like medicine in that we are learning about
genetics, nutrition, physiology, and how to implement what is learned, hopefully
in a cost effective and profitable manner.
We’ve built new barns and new roofs on old
barns, sprayed lots of paint, installed new barbed wire fences and a new
electric fence system used for rotational grazing, and provided water to all
pastures. We have added some new
and very good genetics to our herd. We
now have registered Angus and Brangus mommas with babies at their sides, and we
purchased a number of good looking crossbred Angus-Brangus-Simmental heifers
that are giving us some nice calves.
Bill won first place in the Lamar County hay
contest and third place in the Mid-Georgia Cattlemen’s hay contest for quality
of harvested hay. This took a lot
of work, good weather, timing, and $. It
has also been a great year for the pecans, grapes, blueberries, and our
vegetable garden. We can’t
believe what can be produced with the correct environment and a little moisture
and fertilizer.
Bill and the
Girls 
Elsa
Elsa has done a wonderful job as the wine
maker for Sell Farm, producing red, white, and rose varieties from our Muscadine
grapes. Aging in oak barrels added
flavors and made an enormous difference. The
wine tastes fantastic and Bill really likes it.
She produced a very good rose that we call Mooo-se, and we are looking
forward next year to the release of a Mooo-Sell.
Elsa has been very active with the Bearded
Collie Health Foundation that she founded and runs.
She is in the process of completing studies and developing data on
genetics as it affects health of this breed, besides raising and training our
own dogs. Sheep have been added to
our menagerie in order to improve the Beardies’ herding skills and to munch
down our grass.
For a time, Bill has set aside his artistic
painting in favor of farm activities. He is director of the Mid-Georgia
Cattlemen’s Association and mans the website of the Georgia Cattle Discussion
Board. He is also webmaster for the
Frank Waters Foundation
website (frankwaters.org) and
his own fine art site (taosfineart.com).
Bill is vice-chairman of the International
Association for Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC) and editor of their online
newsletter. In 1976 he started the
first free-standing hospice in the US at Hillhaven in Tucson.
A dozen hospices now exist in Tucson along with thousands across the
nation, and the IAHPC is spreading this concept around the world by assisting in
training, instructional fellowships, and other funding.
To view our Sell Farm Rogues’ Gallery on
the Internet, go to:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/index.html?id=4293405621
Bill and Elsa Farr, the Girls, and Assorted Animal Friends
a
"Isn't
This Just the Life?"
by
Mary Ann Torrence
During a trip to Tucson in March of 1995, Frank Waters, his wife Barbara, my
daughter Linda, and I experienced a rewarding afternoon visit to the Sonoran
Desert Museum. Linda, an attractive eighteen-year-old and a gifted equestrian,
had the honor of escorting Frank by pushing his wheelchair. And we were
privileged to meet Charles Hathaway, Frank's lifelong friend. The joyful reunion
of these gentlemen, both about to be ninety-three, was mirrored in hovering
ruby-throated hummingbirds playing with threads in Frank's burgundy sweater.
After introducing Linda, Frank looked up at Charles with a beaming smile and a
twinkle in his eye and exclaimed, "Isn't this just the life!"
Yes, for all of us it most certainly was just the life! Frank's generous
interaction with my family over nearly a decade allowed us to express to him our
deeply felt admiration and appreciation. His sense of humor, particularly
regarding my exuberant enthusiasm, kept our friendship down to earth. His
welcoming deep voice always boomed the greeting, "Well, Mary Ann, HOW IN
THE WORLD ARE YOU!"
Having Frank as a teacher and mentor has been of the greatest consequence to me.
And many others have experienced unique interactions with him, for the
compassion and clarity in his writings continue to engage our deepest
understanding of what it means to be truly human. When asked what I think Frank's
writing represents, I reply, "The Universe!"
His wisdom revealed philosophical, psychological, and spiritual values that led
me seriously to re-evaluate my own thinking. I desperately wanted to change old
habits and incorporate these new values, but past cultural indoctrination
inhibited me. And so my inappropriate habits continued. I would tell Frank of my
frustrated attempts at change. He responded with patience and intuitive
kindness.
His first advice was, "Get your mental willfulness out of your way."
The harder I had tried to change, the more my intentions were defeated.
Spirituality cannot be contrived, and being spiritual was just not possible with
"mental willfulness" in the way.
His next suggestion was, "Remember healing silence." The chattering
noisiness in my mind made this advice especially challenging. I began reading
Sri Ramana Maharshi, a powerful influence in Frank's life, and continue to do so
to this day. Solitude in meditation is a "healing silence."
The
most profound remark Frank made to me was, "Remember that all will unfold
as intended." Whether exercising free will and exploring momentary options
or ignoring them, I feel assured that all WILL unfold as intended.
These three powerful suggestions by Frank have become increasingly influential
in my life.
After
attending Frank's writing workshop, Linda said, "I was so blessed to be
with Frank that summer of 1994, and to learn from his knowledge and experience.
I remember him as always having such great joy about living and about writing.
The tools I took home after my experience could be applied to writing, but more
importantly, to how I live my live every day. Frank was an incredible example of
hard work, determination, commitment, patience, and most importantly, joy."
The emotional and intuitive feelings I have experienced while reading Frank's
work span a wide spectrum. His kaleidoscopic interests have led to my own
contemplation of many realities. Drawn into the emotional depths of his writing,
I have felt tears of joy and sorrow, laughter, wonder, and above all, immense
gratitude.
Yes, this is "just the life!"
Mary Ann, a retired teacher and musician, is a
vice president of the Frank Waters Foundation. Above is an excerpt of her paper
to be presented at the July Centennial.
How It Was Settled
by Frank Waters
It
was a cold, dark night; the wind whistled dismally. A lone horseman galloped
hastily out of a small town on the prairies, a sack thrown over his saddle. The
horseman had not gone very far when he buttoned up his coat and turned down his
earlaps. The lone cry of a prairie wolf rose out of the night. It was
echoed from all points of the compass by the members of the pack. The
man's face grew white as he dug his horse with his spurs.
Meanwhile
the town back on the prairies was all astir. The men headed by Bob
Jackson, the sheriff, were eagerly hunting in the robbed bank for a clue.
The only clue found was a pocket-knife with the initials "J.R.J,"
which was brought to Bob.
"Great Scott!²" escaped from Bob, as a look
of dismay and consternation spread over his face. It was noticed by the men in
the dim light of a candle.
"What's the matter?" they asked.
"Only this," replied Bob as he drew a knife similar to the clue, from
his pocket and laid it on the table. "Mother gave us each one, when
we left home. You see now that Jim, the robber, is my brother, the man whom I
must catch and bring to justice."
"Well,
business is business, let's go," cried a heartless man mounting his horse.
Wearily, Bob Jackson climbed into his saddle. Fifteen minutes later the
posse headed by Bob was following Brother Jim across the prairie.
Jim
was now riding desperately to get away from the famished wolves, which were
gaining leap by leap. A sharp cut with a sheath knife across the girth and the
saddle rolled on the ground. Next went his coat, then his boots, then with a
terrible oath mingled with the raw wind, he threw away the cursed bag.
The horse's breath was now coming in great wheezing gasps, as she flew before
the gaining pack. A snap of a forefoot in a gopher hole brought a crisis. Jim,
with a frozen foot, painfully hobbled to the side of a cliff and climbed up on a
ledge above the reach of the wolves. Jim Jackson, the thief, saw his choice of
death, torn to pieces by the wolves or slow death by freezing.
One
hour later a frozen body rolled off the cliff and was torn to pieces by the
howling demons. The question was settled. Jim would not be brought to justice by
"Bob."
Columbia Sayings and Doings
Columbia Grade School
Grade 8-A, January, 1917
Word
Magic
If this poem were pottery
It would hold new wine,
Or if a dancers' legs
These words would jump
and jive.
If this poem were a stream
You could stick your hand
Into this page and pull up
Fresh water to your lips.
If this poem were my father
It would walk bowlegged
And praise itself for saving
Five cents on day-old bread.
If this poem were the night sky
You would feel the stars
Sink their teeth into the back
of your head.
But since this poem doesn¹t hold new wine,
Nor does it jump and jive,
And you can't get fresh
water here,
Nor see my bowlegged father,
I guess the only thing to do
Is to reach into the back of your head
And put the stars
Back into the sky.
At the Crack of Dawn
Poems by
Jim Ciletti
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Of Awards and Pink Tulips
by Barbara Waters
Glory hallelujah!
Pikes Peak Library District in Colorado Springs, hometown of Frank
Waters, got the centennial celebrating his birth year off to a smashing start
with a series of events that happened to tie together with remarkable
synchronicity over the weekend of April 12-14.
Initiating this celebration was the tenth
Frank Waters Award for Excellence in Literature given this year to author
Barbara Kingsolver. Because
Kingsolver was unable to attend, she wrote a gracious letter of appreciation;
and focus gravitated to Waters and this special year of tributes to his memory.
As
his representative, I had all the fun and benefit from a well-organized program
emanating from an enthusiastic community that united Frank and the literary
award given annually in his name, Kingsolver, the Betty Field Memorial Youth
Writing Contest Awards, a writing workshop for participants in that contest, the
Pikes Peak Library District Board, Friends of the Pikes Peak Library District,
parents, teachers, personal Colorado friends of Frank’s, myself, and Mary Ann
Torrence, who as Frank’s number one fan traveled with me from Taos.
Special touches were the Board’s exuberant
pink tulips and boxes of chocolates left in our rooms at the Hearthstone Inn Bed
and Breakfast, a favorite of Frank’s and mine.
Friday evening was just as special with gourmet food prepared by board
vice president Mary Ciletti and her husband Jim (owners of Hooked on Books, a
real find for us), and other welcoming board members, such as president Barbara
Bailey, Friends chairman Kathy Stevens and board photographer Don Stevens,
director emeritus Andrea Corley, and our “chauffeurs” Ken and Susan Krassy.
A large writing workshop facilitated mainly
by Darcy Alan for young people and their parents on Saturday morning
reacquainted me with the writing dreams of Frank Waters at the same age, as
evidenced by his second published story that appears elsewhere in this
newsletter. Students in grades six
through twelve received certificates for their participation in the writing
contest and workshop.
The highlight of both workshop and Saturday
night’s soldout annual library district dinner was being in the Carnegie
Reading Room of Penrose Public Library. This
striking Carnegie Library with its huge picture windows was originally built
when Frank was three years old; a little later of course it became one of his
favorite hangouts. A special
tribute statue presented to me was another surprise highlight of the dinner
event. And I was deeply touched by the accolades given Frank by old friends Ken
and Barbara Sparks, Joe and Diane Gordon, Alex and Ines Blackburn, and Bob and
Marilyn Callan. Thank you, Ken and
a cordial audience, for mine too. I
also felt honored to present winning student authors with their awards and to be
photographed with them. On top of
all this, the food was good!
Mary Ann and I completed our memorable
Library Trip with a pilgrimage to Frank’s gaunt old house – sympathetically
painted this spring in soft Easter egg colors - across from Frank Waters Park
on East Bijou Street. Before
heading home, we decorated his father’s grave in Evergreen Cemetery with
bluebells and pink tulips.
BW
Waters'
Reflection
Mirror of loving wisdom
Dichotomy in unity expressed,
Rippling particles
Infinite Influence
By you we are blessed.
Silence unfolding in the
Music of the Spheres
A palette of words blending
for those who hear
the patient teaching
of the universe.
By you we are blessed.
Oh gentle, kind friend,
in the life you have shared
We celebrate the blessing
of the Great Spirit in
Waters' Reflection.
Mary Ann Torrence
Remarks
from Barbara Kingsolver
Frank
Waters Award Ceremony, April 13, 2002
Unlike Frank Waters, whose roots in the Southwest ran as deep as those of a
mesquite tree, I came here from somewhere else. I first arrived in Tucson
twenty-five years ago as a Kentucky girl still wet behind the years [sic], fresh
out of college with nothing in my pockets and a hunger for adventure in my
heart. I came to seek my fortune, I suppose, but I knew nothing about the desert
I'd come rambling into - did not even know well enough that a cactus has spines.
I learned that, though, the first time I took a hike in the desert. And I
learned much more. It dawned on me slowly that the desert isn't just cactus and
rattlesnakes, it's also people, history, and culture. I tuned my ear to a new
language, with its many accents and border crossings and cultural nuances.
I looked to the work of other artists who could help show me the way -
Edward Abbey, Leslie Marmon Silko, Georgia O¹Keeffe, Mary Austin, and of
course, Frank Waters. Eventually I began to bring up a family here - two
Arizona natives of my own creation. The eldest is in high school now,
using the books of Frank Waters as she researches her school reports on her home
state's culture and history. And my youngest is just now learning that a
cactus has spines.
Through all of this, I have gradually become a southwesterner. When I
drove into Tucson all those years ago as a girl of 22, in my little car packed
with my meager worldly goods, I had no idea I had arrived home - that the
fortune I was seeking was here, this place. My fortune would not be a house of
straw, sticks, or bricks (though I've spent some time in all three); it would
not be a pot of gold. I would find it in the wealth of a glorious land,
its people, its many histories and its struggles for meaning and justice - and
the stories I could tell about all of those things. I would make my way toward
my own legacy by the light of such great pioneers as Frank Waters, who have told
those stories before me.
I wish I could be with you tonight to tell you in person how much this honor
means to me. It was only a previous commitment to those two Arizona natives of
mine that kept me away, but I'm with you tonight in spirit, as Mr. Waters surely
must be also. To receive this award in his name is an unbelievable honor. It
feels to me as if that great man with his mesquite-deep roots is telling
me, after 25 years, "Welcome home."
Barbara Kingsolver
Congratulations!
To: CHARLES HATHAWAY, Frank Water's lifelong friend for
becoming the living symbol of the Centennial by celebrating his one hundredth
birthday on April 2, 2002. Charles royally entertained numerous relatives who
gathered in Green Valley, Arizona, for this notable occasion. At age 98 he wrote
the book Back-Alley Boys about growing up with Frank, and he continues to paint
watercolors and write published poetry although his career centered on being in
charge of all school finances for the state of Colorado. You're a wonder,
Charles!
To: MARY ANN TORRENCE for becoming third vice president of the Foundation¹s
Board of Directors; and to GEOFFREY TORRENCE, WILLIAM FARR, and JUDITH BRONNER
for joining this board; to MARK ROSSI for becoming first vice president besides
treasurer, TAL LUTHER second vice president, and MARILYN LUTHER assistant
secretary; and to MARTIN MELTZER for joining our Advisory Board along with
RENATE COLLINS and ART BACHRACH.
To: ALEXANDER BLACKBURN for his latest book of essays Creative Spirit: Toward
a Better World. It is said to explore 'the possibility that the mind itself,
combining unconscious and intuitive thought with reason and with the mythic mode
of consciousness, spontaneously effects alteration of our inner life and
presents solutions to crisis." Blackburn's essays also emphasize the
importance to society of the creative writer and literature.
For
Sale To Benefit The FW Foundation
(
also visit the Store on this Website)
-"Early School Days in Colorado Springs: with Frank Waters and Charles
Hathaway," video tape, $30 + $3 postage.
-
Sundays in Tutt Library with Frank Waters, introduction by Joseph Gordon,
softcover $20. Frank's speech given in Colorado Springs in 1985. Last available
copies. Book collector Tal Luther says, " . . . a valuable collector's
item."
-Signed Frank Waters posters, $35 + $5 postage. Unsigned, $20 + $5 postage.
-Fechin's
Frank posters, framed, glass, $500 each.
-Notecard
packs (6 cards) featuring Fechin's portrait of Frank, $10+$3 postage each.
-
-Taos
Landmarks and Legends, text and 115 pen-and-ink drawings (including the
Frank Waters Foundation) by Bill Hemp, clothbound $34.95, softcover $19.95.
-First
editions of Brave Are My People; Flight from Fiesta; Frank Waters: Man and
Mystic; Terence Tanner's bibliography Frank Waters; Back-Alley
Boys by C. Hathaway; Celebrating the Coyote by B. Waters, and Advice
for the Climb by Imogene Bolls.
- Bronze Bust of Frank, $2,500; Bronze Sculpture of Frank's Hand, $250; Bronze
Mask, $750; Bronze Plaque, $1,000 (all bronzes by Mark Rossi; shipping not
included).
From the John Gilchriese Collection:
1. 1 copy: Frank Waters: A Bibliography, Terence A. Tanner (HB/Dust
Jacket/Presentation/ Signed) - $100
2. 2 copies: Frank Waters: A Bibliography, Terence A. Tanner (HB/DJ/Signed)
- $90
3. 1 copy: To Possess The Land, (PB/DJ/Pres/Signed) - $25
4. 1 copy: Masked Gods, (HB/No DJ/Pres/Signed) - $120
5. 1 copy: Masked Gods, (HB/No DJ) - $100
6. 1 copy: Mexico Mystique, (PB/Pres/Signed) - $20
7. 1 copy: Book of the Hopi, (Uncorrected Proof/Spiral
Binding/Wrapper/Signed/Presentation/No Photos) - $1,250
8. 1 copy: Frank Waters: A Retrospective Anthology, Charles L. Adams (PB/Signed)
- $25
9. 1 copy: The Colorado, (PB/Pres/Signed) - $25
10. 2 copies: Pike's Peak, (HB/DJ/Pres/Signed) - $55
each
11. 1 copy: Pike's Peak, (HB/Dam DJ/Pres/Signed) - $50
12. 1 copy: Flight From Fiesta, (HB/DJ/Pres/Signed) - $45
13. 3 copies: Flight From Fiesta, (PB/Signed) - $30 each
14. 1 copy: Flight From Fiesta, (PB/Signed ³Frank²) -
$25
15. 1 copy: Flight From Fiesta, (PB/Pres/Signed) - $35
16. 1 copy: Leon Gaspard, (HB/DJ/Pres/Signed/Fenn Ed) - $160
17. 1 copy: Leon Gaspard, (boxed edition) - $300
18. "Studies in Frank Waters,"
Charles Adams, Ed.: 1 copy Vol. XIX; 8 copies Vol. X - $20 ea.
For more information, please contact:
The Frank Waters Foundation
505-776-2356 fwaters@laplaza.org
MEMBERSHIP
_____ Renewal _____ New ______ Gift _____ Memorial to:
_________________________
You are invited to participate in our vision and educational goals by becoming a
member of the Frank Waters Foundation, a non-profit, tax-exempt public charity.
Please complete this form and mail to: Frank Waters Foundation, PO Box 1127,
Taos, NM 87571
Name ___________________________________
Address _________________________________
Amount _________________________________
Category Chosen __________________________
Please make your check or money order payable to Frank Waters Foundation. Tax
#86-0723866. Thank You.
MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES
__________ Founder ($10,000+)
__________ Major Benefactor ($5,001-$10,000)
__________ Benefactor ($501-$5,000)
__________ Patron ($251-$500)
__________ Sponsor ($101-$250)
__________ Commercial (over $100)
__________ Family ($30-$100)
__________ Individual ($15-$29)
__________ FWFCC Sponsor
__________ FWFCC Gift
Newsletter-
2001
Newsletter-
2000
