Norman Mailer Society/Minutes of the 2016 Meeting of the Executive Board

The Executive Board of The Norman Mailer Society (“NMS”) met in Long Branch, New Jersey, on September 30, 2016, with President J. Michael Lennon presiding. Also in attendance were Board members Maggie McKinley, Vice President, David Light, Treasurer, Marc Triplett, Secretary, Phillip Sipiora, Editor of The Mailer Review, Barbara Wasserman, John Buffalo Mailer, Mark Olshaker, Bonnie Culver, Robert Begiebing, Nicole DePolo, Carol Holmes, Christopher Busa, Jason Mosser, Gerald Lucas, and Neil Abercrombie. Agenda items included The Mailer Review, future conference sites, transition of leadership of NMS, and Digital Mailer activities.

Phil Sipiora reviewed briefly the success and progress of The Mailer Review, noting particularly that in its 10 years, the Review has produced 4826 pages. Its new edition will be released soon.

The meeting was consumed primarily by a discussion of future venues of the NMS conferences. Mark Olshaker made a motion to hold the 2017 conference in Sarasota, Florida. Discussion that followed explored other options for 2017 and beyond. Sites in the State of Georgia were considered, including Atlanta, Athens and Macon. Jason Mosser discussed the advantages of Atlanta, but also noted that accommodations would be expensive. Jerry Lucas raised the possibility of Macon for a future conference site, perhaps in 2018. Macon is 75 miles from the Atlanta airport; it has adequate facilities for conference and hotel stays for the members, as well as attractions such as the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, the Tubman Museum, and the Allman Brothers Band Museum. Athens, Georgia, was also discussed as a potential venue in Georgia.

Other cities, including Washington, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Boston were considered—all were found to pose difficulties at this time.

A consensus formed that for the third time the NMS conference in 2017 should be held in Sarasota, Florida. Jerry Lucas will look into the possibility of holding the conference in Macon in 2018. Chicago and other locations will be considered for the future. Also discussed was the possibility of an NMS gathering within a future conference of the American Literature Association.

Mike Lennon has announced that this will be his last year as President of the Norman Mailer Society. Mark Olshaker moved that the Board act now to nominate Maggie McKinley as the next President in order to assure that the business of the NMS moves forward smoothly. That motion was seconded, and the Board passed the resolution that Maggie McKinley be nominated for election as President of the NMS by the membership at the next conference in 2017.

A brief discussion of Digital Mailer progress concluded the meeting. There is a ten-minute limit in effect on papers being presented at conferences, and Jerry Lucas reminded members that papers that would otherwise be greater in length can be published online.

There being no other business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,
Marc S. Triplett, Secretery