Herbert Scott, my editor at New Issues, passed away yesterday after a long battle with cancer. He was a delightful, sweet man and I'll always be grateful to him. The last time I saw him was in Vancouver, I believe, and before that in Carbondale, where I had barbeque with him and his wife.
I love the book he made for me, and will always remember his gruff voice on the phone that day he called to give me the good news. I had just walked back from lunch with my then girlfriend and we were chatting a bit in her lab (she was finishing a ph.d. in genetics) when her cell phone rang. I'd provided my home number and her cell number since my voice mail never worked.
It was great news, but also nauseating in that I had just been offered publication by another press and suddenly this embarassment of riches was kind of mind-blowing. I mentioned this to him, and he kind of sold me right then and there on New Issues.
I've never regretted that choice.
So, if you have ever enjoyed a New Issues book, mine or Matthew Thorburn's or anyone else's, give them a read tonight.
About Me
- Paul
- Paul Guest is the author of four volumes of poetry and a memoir. His debut, The Resurrection of the Body and the Ruin of the World, was awarded the 2002 New Issues Poetry Prize. His second collection, Notes for My Body Double, was awarded the 2006 Prairie Schooner Book Prize. His third collection, My Index of Slightly Horrifying Knowledge, was published by Ecco Press/HarperCollins in 2008. His fourth collection, Because Everything Is Terrible, was published by Diode Editions. His poems have appeared in Harper's, The Paris Review, Poetry, Tin House, The Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. His memoir, One More Theory About Happiness, was published by Ecco in May 2010 and selected for the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Program. The recipient of a 2011 Guggenheim Fellowship and a 2007 Whiting Writers' Award, Guest lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.
3 comments:
Will do, my friend. I've got your book right here.
Paul, I am sorry to hear this. You have done well to remember him here like this.
I was so sorry to hear this news -- and am sad that I never got to meet Herb. We spoke just once, on the phone, when he called me to say he'd be publishing my book. I remember that gruff voice too. I didn't catch his name at first, and so when it clicked whom I was talking to, I was doubly surprised and elated. Everything I've heard about him echoes what Louise wrote -- that he was so dedicated to creating and establishing New Issues.
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