Thank to the gods that they rescinded Ezra nomination.
It would be insulting to Ezra name to be there in an Episcopalian-Jew
Cathedral.
DL



----- Original Message -----
From: "Tim Romano" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2003 9:10 AM
Subject: Re: Pound's nomination to Writers Corner


> Perhaps they would be willing to commission a stone carver to create a
> gargoyle of Pound?
> Seriously,
> Tim Romano
>
> At 09:54 PM 3/4/03, Jennifer Wilson wrote:
> >Several years ago Pound was nominated to the Writers Corner of the
Cathedral
> >of St. John the Divine in New York.  His nomination was subsequently
> >rescinded when a member of the congregation circulated a petition noting
> >intention to demonstrate.  She was a converted Jew and several of her
family
> >members had perished in the Holocaust.  Because the Cathedral considers
> >itself a national ecumenical institution, church leaders determined in
> >conference with others in the community that a reversal was in the best
> >interest of the church.
> >        Although the Writers Corner is a program of rather recent
vintage, the
> >reversal of a nomination was and is unprecedented.  Perhaps in a gesture
of
> >protest, E. L. Doctorow made note in his induction of F. Scott Fitzgerald
the
> >evening that Pound would have been inducted, that Fitzgerald was
> >anti-Semitic.
> >        In response to the rescission, Donald Hall, the Elector who
nominated
> >Pound, resigned in protest.  I have a letter from him describing the
events.
> >A recent phone conversation with Elector Carolyn Kizer generated her
comment:
> >"Disgraceful."  I have also visited with Lynn Chase, who endowed the
Writers
> >Corner, and Daniel Hoffman, who chaired the nomination committee.  At the
> >time Hoffman noted that he would maintain the blank stone for Pound's
> >eventual inclusion, but in our recent phone conversation he didn't sound
> >optimistic.
> >        I would be most grateful for any information you may be able to
offer
> >on this nouveau Bolingen.
> >
> >Jennifer Wilson
>