2013 begins with good news

Best wishes for a good New Year to all of you.  I hope you enjoyed a Merry Christmas.

The George R. Stewart/Earth Abides Project has some good news to share:

The George R. Stewart Biography is being reprinted after only 4 months.  I have a limited supply of friends and family, so this means the book is selling to a general audience.

And it’s been reviewed, again.  The review is simply a brief description, but since it’s been done by Reference and Research Book News, it will likely get some attention from libraries and scholars interested in Stewart.

The Western Literature Association is to meet in Berkeley this year.  If resources permit, I hope to present a paper about George R. Stewart at the conference.  I’ll post any information here.

Now that the holidays are over, There should be time to get back to my reviews of Stewart’s books.

Excelsior!

Pioneering Friends of George R. Stewart

As the Year of the Book begins, I want to honor two people who set out years ago to honor the work of George R. Stewart. Vic Moitoret was a World War II Navy meteorologist who survived two carrier sinkings carrying a notebook of favorite books which included Stewart’s STORM. Near the end of the war he was sitting in the Honolulu airport when a friend introduced him to — George R. Stewart. After the war and retirement Moitoret and his wife retired to Silver City, New Mexico, set up a small fine art press, and began to write and print small belle lettres. He also established the first George R. Stewart Fan Club.

That lead Moitoret to a meeting with Humanities and English professor Bob Lyon. Lyon had founded a similar group, The Friends of George R. Stewart. His intention was to gather Stewart fans together at meetings of the Western Literature Association or similar events. Moitoret and Lyon joined with others a few times, which eventually led to a series of Stewart papers at one meeting of the WLA. They also played a key role in the visit of artist and Stewart scholar Steve Williams to Stewart Country.