Creeley, Robert (Wilson, John)

Heavy (A Postcard Commemorating the November 9, 1970 "Exploding Whale" Incident in Florence, Oregon) with: Robert Creeley's Life and Work: A Sense of Increment

Concord, MA; Ann Arbor, MI: Dancing Bear; University of Michigan Press, 1985; 1987. First Edition; First Printing. Postcard; Softcover. This comic stanza from the great Black Mountain School-&-Beyond poet Robert Creeley was composed on occasion of the infamous November 9, 1970 "Exploding Whale" incident in Florence, Oregon on the central Oregon coast. Oregon's Highway Division--after consulting with the United States Navy--decided to remove a 45-foot-long sperm whale from the beaches of Florence by way of dynamite. George Thornton, engineer in charge of the operation (whose supervisor had gone on a hunting trip days before the detonation--perhaps getting out of dodge and knowing the plan to be a hilarious catastrophe in waiting) chose the amount of dynamite: 450 kg. A military veteran with explosives training became privy to discussions regarding the dynamite and warned that the planned twenty cases of dynamite would be far too much, but he was ignored and the plan went ahead as directed. The resulting explosion was actually caught on film by cameraman Doug Brazil, then working for KATU-TV in Portland, Oregon. As local reporter Paul Linman joked, "...land lubber newsmen" became "land-blubber newsmen," and Creeley's short poem here handles the hilarity of the event with trademark terseness and precision. Postcard in very fine condition, virtually as new. Along with "Heavy," we have included a robust, overlooked work of Creeley scholarship published just around the corner from us at Third Mind Books by University of Michigan Press. The book-length academic treatment, titled: "Robert Creeley's Life and Work: a Sense of Increment" (edited by John Wilson) contains "...a wide-ranging selection of essays and reviews of Robert Creeley's poetry, fiction, and critical prose," and explores "...his highly-acclaimed early poems, his Black Mountain "heritage," his venture into novelistic forms," and much more. Book is in very fine condition with only slightest shelf-wear to fine-edges; tiny spot on front cover at bottom right-hand corner near rightmost fine-edge of front cover. Very Fine. [Item #4197]

Price: $35.00