Daughtry, Philip

Two-Sided Broadside: Abandoning Religion (for Sgt. A. Davidson)

Topanga Canyon, CA: n/p, 2006. First Printing. Single Sheets. Signed by Philip Daughtry. “On a windy Alaskan headland overlooking / Cook Inlet, Ninilchik’s Russian Orthodox Church / stands sentinel over wooden crosses that crowd / its weedy cemetery of long forgotten fishermen. / Outside the moss stained [sic] fence a headstone / marks the resting place of a soldier / killed in Iraq. Joining the vigil of frosty milk weed / I was brought to tears by a wind that blows / across the fresh turned earth of vanquished youth” (from “Abandoning Religion (for Sgt. A. Davidson).” Offered here is “Abandoning Religion,” a moving meditation on war and young death by Philip James Daughtry (b. 1942, a/k/a Philip Suntree), the great & greatly varied British-American poet who among many other things is a descendant of Frank & Jesse James, the quintessential Wild Western American outlaws. In our book, Starting From San Francisco (Item No. 3071), Thomas Rain Crowe (b. 1949) tells the story of the Baby Beat Generation/ Second San Francisco Renaissance, which he was at the center of alongside Daughtry (then known as Suntree) during the 1970s. In SFSF, Crowe relates fascinating anecdotes about Daughtry/Suntree in relation to the larger group- phenomenon. Daughtry & Crowe remain close friends & colleagues to this day, as of this writing, & we have had the privilege of knowing & befriending them both—true originals. 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 book, Starting from San Francisco: Thomas Rain Crowe in Conversation with Third Mind Books (Item No. 3071) & the catalog for the 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. Letter- format broadside on single sheets: the first and only printing of this Charles Reznikoff-ian anti-war elegy. This copy is additionally signed by Daughtry, whose signature, in thin, black pen ink on the broadside’s second page, reads: “PD / 4/2006.” In very fine condition with only minute wear and light bumping to fine-edges & corners of pages, otherwise pristine. Very Fine. [Item #7586]

Price: $45.00