Starbuck, Scott T.

River Walker

ISBN: 9780979320491
Eugene, OR: Mountains & Rivers Press, 2012. First Edition. Softcover. Inscribed & signed by Scott T. Starbuck to Thomas Rain Crowe. "Two brothers want the same girl./ She likes both for different reasons./ The setting is remote, woodsy, far north./ Add water." ("Instant Novel," pg. 12) A collection of poems by Scott T. Starbuck, an environmental activist & among the foremost current practitioners of "ecopoetry" in the vein of Gary Snyder et al. With laudatory blurbs on back cover including by Thomas Rain Crowe, the acclaimed poet & publisher who was at the center of the Baby Beat Generation/ Second San Francisco Renaissance during the 1970s (see our book, Starting from San Francisco, item No. 3071, Deluxe Edition No. 3075). Crowe writes: "As someone who walks the walk and is at home in and around water, Scott Starbuck, in River Walker, takes us to his secret fishing holes, introduces us to river mermaids, teaches us river etiquette, and how to fish the wind. A true bioregional fisher-of-salmon-and-of-men in the tradition of Snyder and (Robinson) Jeffers, his stories and cultural memories are as good as it gets." On shorter title page, Starbuck has hand-written & signed: "Nov. 14, 2012/ Thomas Rain Crowe,/ Many thanks for the fine/ blurb on the back cover,/ and for sending/ Zoro's Field (underlined) which/ I decided to use in/ my Creative Nonfiction/ courses after my/ 2013 sabbatical./ I greatly enjoyed Neeli/ Cherkovski's poems/ you sent regarding/ his precise lines and/ resonating images born/ from a consciousness/ of refreshingly wild/ insights./ Best Regards,/ (signed) Scott Starbuck." In this long, warm & grateful inscription, Starbuck refers to Crowe's award-winning memoir, Zoro's Field: My Life in the Appalachian Woods (2005); & to Neeli Cherkovski, the Baby Beat poet & essayist who was Crowe's right-hand impresario in 1970s San Francisco, as he discusses at length in SFSF, along with Snyder's bioregional concept & activism which both of these poets have taken to heart. Trade-format softcover original, first edition, with beautifully appropriate front cover artwork by Jennifer Williams. An outstanding Starbuck collectible with the most relevant association & provenance. In very fine condition with only very slight rubbing & a few short, faint creases to front, esp. back covers & spine; very sparse spotting to upper & lower edges of text block near spine. Interior very fine with only very small, faint bump-creases at upper corners of some page leaves. Very Fine. [Item #3654]

Price: $25.00 save 20% $20.00