Miller, Wayne

From Mesoamerica

San Francisco, CA: Smoking Mirror Press, 1976. First Printing. Softcover. Inscribed & signed by Wayne Miller to Thomas Rain Crowe, a co-authorial architect of the Second San Francisco Renaissance. "Wayne stayed in San Francisco many years before moving to his current residence in southern California. Wayne’s book i came out during the decade of the 70s to much applause and really put him “on the map,” as it were. Wayne’s Native American heritage loomed large in that book and in his life and writing in general. He was a tall handsome figure and a real presence wherever he went. His reading style was dramatic (as indicated in the photo of him reading at the San Francisco International Poetry Festival) and he could hold an audience even of that size. He didn’t live in North Beach during the years we’re discussing here, but his work appeared in most of the literary publications in the Bay Area and he gave readings when the situation felt right to him. He had a discriminating personality, which was evident in his poems. When he hung around North Beach he was often with Janice Blue, Bob Kaufman, Eugene Ruggles, Jack Micheline and that crowd.” So reads an excerpt from our book, Starting from San Francisco: Thomas Rain Crowe in Conversation with Third Mind Books (Item No. 3071) on the American poet and educator, Wayne Miller. Miller’s work in the 1970s is baubled (and richly) with reference to the poet’s own Native American heritage (as Crowe notes, above); which the poet explored artistically, as well as academically. For example, in 1976 — (the year this book was published) — Miller was a “Professor of Native American Studies” at the San Francisco Art Institute. This is an especially unique distinction, as it makes him one of the only Second San Francisco Renaissance poets who maintained direct links to academia while contributing unreservedly to the “movement literature” of the SSFR, as well as its crowning expression of “direct action” (e.g., the “1st Annual San Francisco Poetry Festival” referenced above). From the archive of Thomas Rain Crowe, the legendary American poet and co-authorial founder of the Second San Francisco Renaissance. For more information on the Thomas Rain Crowe archive (assembled & curated by Third Mind Books), see our above-mentioned book or consult the catalog for the Thomas Rain Crowe archive (Item No. 1010), which contains several excerpts and quotations from the book, as well as a full listing of the archive’s contents (which are now being offered for sale individually on the Third Mind Books site). First Edition Softcover Original: “This book [is] printed in a limited edition / of 700 copies by Smoking Mirror Press / with 25 copies signed by the author,” per colophon. This copy is additionally signed & warmly inscribed by Wayne Miller to his good friend, “Tom.” Miller’s signature, in thin, black pen ink, reads: “Veteran’s Auditorium [sic] / Nov. 19, 1976 / Wayne Al. [?] Miller / Viva!” In strong near fine condition with generally mild-to-moderate rubbing, shelf-wear, & some light bumping to fine-edges & corners of front, back covers & spine-edge; a few scattered, low-visibility nicks/scuffs to front, back covers at select locales & light-to-moderate age-toning throughout; otherwise clean & gently kept. Near Fine. [Item #7237]

Price: $45.00