The following is food for thought in light of April and the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22nd.

“In our way of life, in our government, with every decision we make, we always keep in mind the Seventh Generation to come. It’s our job to see that the people coming ahead, the generations still unborn, have a world no worse than ours—and hopefully better. When we walk upon the Mother Earth we always plant our feet carefully because we know the faces of our future generations are looking up at us from beneath the ground. We never forget them.”

~ Oren Lyons, Native American (Onondaga) Faithkeeper

In March, we at Dame Rocket Press were sad to hear of the death of Mr. Pink, an instrumental character (and true “Guy” Rocket) in our title Magic Gardens and the life of its author, Viva Las Vegas.

Here’s an excerpt about him from “Ring of Fire” in Magic Gardens:

For a while Mona, Pink, and I were inseparable. We were the Three Musketeers, broke as a joke but living for adventure and off of plunder and booty. I burned pretty hot on my own, but with these two pirates by my side we were an absolute conflagration.

It’s good to be on fire. All ya gotta do is burn. Some people wait their entire lives and never get to experience it, so don’t go about doing it half-assed. Don’t worry about the inevitable burnout. Don’t worry about anything at all. Just burn, baby, burn.

Mr. Pink was a trusty block of good dry wood. He was whipsmart and misanthropic to the extreme, the perfect foil for Mona’s grandiosity and my naïveté. He was filled with sarcastic bons mots, had a cozy shoulder to cry on, and never let his life be upended by something so pedestrian as love. He was a solid block of good dry wood, very predictable and instrumental in a fire.

Here’s to you, Mr. Pink, and to all who knew and loved you. Thank you for the role you played in this world and in the life of our beloved Miss Viva. May we always think of you when building our own light in life and in the stars, too. You will surely be missed.

MORE GOOD NEWS: Poet Ana Callan (Duet with Hummingbird) has been invited to present “The Gift of Aging” as part of Multnomah County Library’s monthly series, Perspectives on Positive Aging. “What matters in a life? How does one savor life in the face of mortality and the challenges of these tumultuous times?” Bring lunch and enjoy an inspiring hour with Ana on May 5 from noon to 1:00 PM. Click here for more information.

The birth of m. m. garcia’s Hate Mail (Dame Rocket Press, 2007) goes something like this: first, garcia impressed her instructors at a high school math and science program—or “nerd camp,” as she calls it. Then she was selected to attend NASA’s Space Camp, where she trained as an astronaut for a week to prepare for a simulated space flight. When her crew finally launched, she recalls, they all died “within seconds of departure.”

Undaunted, the instructors insisted the mission go on. By the time they returned to Earth, garcia and her crew died a total of twenty times (forgetting to turn the oxygen on seemed particularly unfortunate). “I concluded that I never wanted to go into space,” she says.  “Shortly after that, I started to lose interest in math and science, and started writing. So, I blame Space Camp for making me a writer.”

Thank you, Space Camp.

Now in its third year in print, Hate Mail is getting a face-lift, and I took the opportunity to interview m. m. garcia on her writing, her simulated death, and her mail. It seems an apt preface to note that, despite the bristling observation, “The greeting card industry knows you’re a chickenshit,” garcia has yet to receive any hate mail. “I’d really like to get one in the mail though,” she says. “That would be cool.” (Readers take note.)

For those who noticed a glimmer of that blunt, lovable, acerbic candor reminiscent of Holden Caulfield from Catcher in the Rye, you’re in good company. “I would say Salinger was the single biggest influence as far as helping me find my voice,” says garcia. She also notes Sherman Alexie’s influence on her writing: “I had the chance to hear him read from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, and he made the comment to the audience that he hates it when writers try to tell you what a tree looks like, as if you didn’t already know. I couldn’t agree more. I realize some description is necessary, but I hate to get in the way of my reader’s imagination.”

I asked the garcia, whose book is filled with adages such as “Embrace your anger” and “Everyone has a nemesis,” about her relationship to Hate Mail. “I’m still proud of it and love to hear from random readers who say they’ve enjoyed it,” she says. “Like most things in my life it’s mostly love peppered with a bit of hate at times,” which is as good a reminder as any that garcia’s aspersions-filled writing is not without compassion. In her story, “D is for Discrimination,” she confesses that she’s working long hours at a school with little pay: “The teachers I bonded with were the ones who seemed to genuinely love their students. Like me, they lived for the little breakthroughs and shrugged off their defeats.”

The soul of Hate Mail can be traced to garcia’s relationship with her friend Jen Magill, who recently passed away after a long battle with cancer. After the book’s publication, garcia followed a lifelong dream and moved from Portland to London, a decision complicated by Jen’s diagnosis. Garcia describes her move this way:

Jen had already been diagnosed with terminal cancer, so from the beginning it was a difficult decision. Jen and I talked about it back then and I told her that one thing I had taken away from her experience with cancer was the notion that you have to live your life while you can, and do all the things you really want to while you still have the chance. In the weeks before I moved, I spent nearly every day with Jen, and I suppose I naively thought this would make it easier to be so far away from her.

It wasn’t easier. In fact, almost from the time my plane landed at Heathrow, I was pretty emotionally wrecked at the thought that I might be missing my last chance to be with my best friend.

Returning to The Dalles, garcia did have the chance, and has spent much of the past year at Jen’s side. “She was super laid back,” garcia remembers, “…she was very snarky, witty, and downright hilarious…. I think that subconsciously as I was writing, I was channeling all those characteristics. When I published the book it was natural that I dedicate it to her.”

For those of you waiting for garcia’s next book, there’s hope. “There is another major project in the works as well,” she says, “but it’s a bit too soon for me to talk about that.” While she remains close-lipped about what we might see in the future, she’s certainly not given up championing the wronged, and passed along this account of peddling Hate Mail and homemade Love-/Hate-frosted cupcakes at the Portland Zine Symposium.

“I’m a terrible sales person,” she says, and when a potential buyer approached her display, garcia let her glance through the book uninterrupted. “Then a few minutes later she walked by again, lingered, and then paused to pick up a copy…. Then she said, ‘Well, I think I’ll spend my money on something a little less hateful.’” Apparently garcia occasionally needs a Hate Mail card to say what she means, too. “My mouth said, ‘Suit yourself,’” she remembers, “but my brain said, ‘Really? You’re going to get snarky with someone who wrote a book called Hate Mail? Either you’re really hardcore, or you’re not that bright.’ Come to think of it, I should make a card for that.”

Readers might find that card in the near future on garcia’s new website, an in-the-works project to refurbish Hate Mail and add some fresh (and free) e-cards. “I’m still writing,” she promises.  Check the Dame Rocket Press website for updates, and in the meantime, try garcia’s comics collaboration with her partner, Steve, at doodism.com.

Eric Blockland is a 2006 graduate of Oberlin College (BA in English) who recently moved to Portland from Vermont to pursue a career in writing and book publishing. He’s currently working as the publishing assistant at Dame Rocket Press and can be contacted at eblokland@gmail.com.

Photo by Napoleon Sarony, National Woman’s Party Records, Library of Congress (See also the Ken Burns /PBS film Not for Ourselves Alone to learn more about these amazing women…)

Did you know that all but one of Ink & Paper Group’s authors are women? What better way to acknowledge them and their achievements—as well as their gender’s lineage—than by hosting a sale this month in honor of women everywhere?

With this in mind, you can buy ANY (or ALL) of the following titles for 50% off (+ $2.50/copy for first-class shipping). Just contact linda.meyer@inkandpapergroup.com or call 503.232.0103 to order (major credit cards accepted).

BOWLER HAT COMICS

• Visibility, by Sarah Neufeld = $7.50 (reg. $15.00)

DAME ROCKET PRESS

• Give My Love to Everybody, edited by Jennifer Weaver-Neist = $7.48 (reg. $14.95)
• Hate Mail, by m. m. garcia = $7.48 (reg. $14.95)
• Magic Gardens, by Viva Las Vegas = $7.48 (reg. $14.95)

THREE MUSES PRESS

• Duet with Hummingbird, by Ana Callan = $8.98 (reg. $17.95)
• Keeper of Secrets, by Anjuelle Floyd = $7.48 (reg. $14.95)
• nothing but squares, by t. litwinchuk = $6.48 (reg. $12.95)

CLICK HERE for more information on Women’s History Month.

Did you know that the Pacific Northwest is home to a thriving small press community? Join Ink & Paper Group and its imprints—Bowler Hat Comics, Dame Rocket Press, and Three Muses Press

Want to learn more about some small presses in our area? Check out the links in the list below.
Beyond Words Publishing, Inc. (Hillsboro, OR): www.beyondword.com
Bowler Hat Comics (Portland, OR): www.bowlerhatcomics.com
Cellar Door Publishing (Portland, OR): www.cellardoorpublishing.com
CoreWay Media (Portland, OR): www.coreway.com
Dame Rocket Press (Portland, OR): www.damerocketpress.com
Dancing Moon Press (Newport, OR): www.dancingmoonpress.com
Dark Horse Comics (Milwaukie, OR): www.darkhorse.com
Eberhardt Press (Portland, OR): www.eberhardtpress.org
Hawthorne Books and Literary Arts (Portland, OR): www.hawthornebooks.com
Hot Off the Press (Canby, OR): www.b2b.hotp.com
Ink & Paper Group, LLC (Portland, OR): www.inkandpapergroup.com
Microcosm Publishing (Portland, OR): www.microcosmpublishing.com
Nestucca Spit Press (Pacific City, OR): www.nestuccaspitpress.com
New Sage Press (Troutdale, OR): www.newsagepress.com
Oni Press, Inc. (Portland, OR): www.onipress.com
Ooligan Press (Portland, OR): www.ooliganpress.pdx.edu
Pinball Publishing (Portland, OR): www.pinballpublishing.com
Ringing Bell Press (Portland, OR) www.ringingbellpress.com
So New Media (Eugene, OR): www.sonewpublishing.com
Three Muses Press (Portland, OR): www.threemusespress.com
Timber Press (Portland, OR): www.timberpress.com
Tin House (Portland, OR): www.tinhouse.com
Top Shelf Productions (Portland, OR): www.topshelfcomix.com
Virtual Tales (Vancouver, WA): www.virtualtales.com
Wordcraft of Oregon (La Grande, OR): www.wordcraftoforegon.com

Kid Beowulf and the Song of Roland

With Kid Beowulf, cartoonist Alexis E. Fajardo combines a wonderful sense of whimsy and high adventure into a totally captivating and enjoyable series. Great fun for young and old readers!
~ Jeff Lemire, Essex County

This book actually made me interested in Beowulf, and even J. R. R. Tolkien couldn’t do that! With a breezy cartoon style, idiosyncratic character designs, and crystal clear storytelling, Kid Beowulf is a fine addition to any comic collection or library.
~Jimmy Gownley, Amelia Rules

Middle Age adventure meets all ages fun. Alexis Fajardo mixes history with folklore to create a wonderful tale.
~Frank Cammuso, Knights of the Lunch Table

“It is, then, the strife of all honorable men of the twentieth century to see that in the future competition of races, the survival of the fittest shall mean the triumph of the good, the beautiful, and the true; that we may be able to preserve for future civilization all that is really fine and noble and strong, and not continue to put a premium on greed and impudence and cruelty.”

~ W. E. B. Du Bois, “Of the Sons of Master and Man,” The Souls of Black Folk

February is Black History Month, and to this day, African American W. E. B. Du Bois’s groundbreaking book (published in 1903) continues to influence and challenge the core of American culture, practice, and conscience.