I'm forwarding this sad notice from the Poetics List. Sylvester >Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 23:27:15 -0700 >From: Pete Landers <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: Mary Barnard passed on > >Hi list, > >Sadly, a great spirit has left this world. Mary Barnard, whose Sappho >translations are at this point the most widely read, passed away last >Saturday. She was 91. I don't know if anyone on the list knows more >about her, but if so, please tell. She traveled to see Pound and >exchanged letters with Williams. Some of her work was published by >Laughlin. She worked at the Buffalo SUNY Library for a while and >helped establish the modern poetry collection. Her poetry is relaxed >and intelligent. It's a pleasure to read. Maybe she deserves at least >a token obit somewhere, but I'm afraid the big papers haven't noticed >yet, or don't care. Here in Portland, OR there is going to be some >sort of poetic memorial service. I don't know more yet. She grew up >in the logging community, went to Reed in the thirties, and lived >much of her later years in Vancouver Washington (just across the >river). > >No need to post any Sappho here. Just search the web for Sappho and >you'll find many Barnard translations. I hope someone at the library, >who knows what she meant to Buffalo and modern poetry, reads this. > >Pete >--