The Mailer Review/Volume 9, 2015/Reflections: Difference between revisions

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I was honored to have known Barry and to have shared with him our mutual passion for literature and so many other mutual interests. When ''The Mailer Review'' was first proposed to The Norman Mailer Society membership in 2006, Barry Leeds, along with [[JML|Michael Lennon]], were the strongest proponents to advocate that the Society embrace and underwrite the journal. In consequence, the motion to launch the ''Review'' passed unanimously and I was honored to be named founding editor. Barry immediately offered to assist me on the editorial side as there were no original staff members — and his help was beneficial and deeply appreciated over the next nine years. Barry had been editor-in-chief of ''Connecticut Review'', an interdisciplinary scholarly journal, from 1989–1992, and a member of its editorial board for over a decade, beginning in 1986. His immense wealth of experience and innumerable contributions to the journal over the next nine years have been salutary, both on our pages and behind the scenes. His intellectual and scholarly contributions will never be equaled, yet it is a niche in our hearts that remains as we go on without our beloved friend. Barry Leeds was and is a force that will never leave me and he will always be part of the spiritual fabric of the ''Review''. Goodbye, Barry, our dear friend.

Edgar Alan Doctorow, sadly, passed away this past summer after an illustrious career as an outstanding historical novelist. Mr. Doctorow was a significant person in the life of Norman Mailer. It was Doctorow who edited ''An American Dream'' when he served as an editor at Dial Press in the mid-1960s. Mailer never forgot the relationship that was forged between the two men at a time when Mailer’s career was at a critical stage in its trajectory. Time passed and these American literary artists moved on to other things in their respective escalating careers. In 2005, they rekindled their friendship when Doctorow agreed to give the keynote address at The Norman Mailer Society Conference in Provincetown. Mailer was delighted to reunite with his old editor and friend. There was a small luncheon at the Mailer house and the two literary lions were in fine mettle, roaring and exploring their respective interests and experiences, old and new, the entire afternoon. It was a true pleasure to observe their interest in and affection for each other.

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[[Category:Editorials]]

[[Category:Written by Phillip Sipiora]]