It looks like new work of mine is forthcoming in Erbacce, in Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, and in the book World Wide Hippoetry 2010.  When they're published, I'll be sure to let you know, unless I drop dead first, which — though unlikely — is always a possibility.

This week, I'm saddened by two deaths.

I received a message from his ex-wife that my dear friend Debabrata Basu passed away during the past month in India.  I met Deb when I worked in the library at Marion Correctional Institution.  I was an inmate reference clerk and he was the newly hired librarian.  I'd like to write more about our friendship and those sometimes crazy times when I have a chance, but for now I'll just mention a few fond memories.  He's the one who talked me into leaving my comfort zone at the reference desk and becoming the administrative clerk, thus giving me my first-ever experience on a computer.  He turned me on to several books that have strongly influenced my intellectual and artistic evolution: including Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth (by James Lovelock), Gitanjali (by Rabindranath Tagore), Why I Am Not a Muslim (by Ibn Warraq), and especially The Tao of Physics (by Fritjof Capra).  He also snuck in CDs by Ravi Shankar and several Bengali musical artists I'd never heard before and turned me on to the fabulous films of Satyajit Ray.  After his retirement, he returned to Kolkata and we stayed in touch — with Deb always encouraging me to visit and me putting it off until it's now too late to ever see him again. 

A few days ago, my wife's longtime best friend's daughter, Pamela Thompson, died after a long bout with cancer.  Geri's known her all her life, and I've known her for more than two decades (she lived down the street from me in the mid 80s).  Pam was 36 years old and leaves behind three children.  Her funeral is today.

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