PASSING THROUGH ~ SOUTHWEST LITERATURE ~ SIGNED by BURNS TAYLOR *HERTZOG *ACOSTA

Description

This is ~
'PASSING THROUGH'
'AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY SOUTHWEST LITERATURE'
(RECHY, SONNICHSEN, BRADDY, ABBEY, GONZALEZ, BODE & more - SEE BELOW)
Compiled and Edited by
W. Burns Taylor and Richard Santelli
with Kathleen McGary
Includes many stories & poems by many excellent authors - see list of titles and authors below
Typography by Carl Hertzog
Front Cover Illustration by Manuel Acosta
Interior illustrations by Cheryl Baker, John Hogan, J'Nevelyn Glasgow & Erika Chamberlain
SIGNED by Weldon Burns Taylor, Editor & Author
SanTay Publishing Company,
El Paso, Texas
Superior Printing, El Paso, Texas 1975
(To protect the book offered here I used an extra copy of the book for all interior images of the book - the exterior book images are the actual book offered in this listing. Also included is an image of Burns Taylor signing the book as 'Burns')
269 page trade paper back bound in glossy pictorial wraps. Pristine condition, like new - SIGNED on the title page by W. Burns Taylor - SEE IMAGES
In 1974 Weldon Burns Taylor was sitting in the bar he owned, 'The Back Door Lounge,' in downtown El Paso, Texas when the idea came to him that there needed to be an anthology of contemporary southwest literature. Burns knew that the El Paso Community College was looking for a new freshman reader. That was the spark that lit his fire.
Born in January 1941, Burns became one hundred percent visually impaired - blinded at the age of three years old when his eleven year old brother shot him in the face at their home outside of Port Arthur, Texas. The older brother had gotten hold of an uncle's 22 rifle loaded with rat shot and pulled the trigger on his younger brother as they looked into each others eyes. Horrorific, "production for use?," I suppose... what is a gun for? To shoot.
Burns attended the School For The Blind in Austin, Texas from the age of 5 and a half until 15. With the guidance of a loving mother, Burns became a true pioneer of the visually impaired. By the age of nine he was known to the Austin community as the 'WONDER BOY.' Burns had independently discovered what is now known as 'Echo Location,' a sensory ability that allowed him to ride his bicycle around his neighborhood. He was able to sense the presence and location of objects, people, buildings, parked cars, moving cars, etc.. by listening to sounds and echoes.
Burns attended Mccallum High School in Austin from the age of 16 to 17.  He was one of a group of 3 blind students to first attend and graduate from a high school in Austin, Texas. He then attended the University of Texas at Austin, earning a degree in English. He took a job as a rehabilitation specialist for the State of Texas and opened the first office for The Texas Commission for the Blind in El Paso, Texas in 1965. He also received training at the Rehabilitation Center in Kerrville, Texas where he was first introduced to the use of a white cane (the School For The Blind had a policy against training young boys to use a white cane when Burns had attended because the superintendent of the school, who used a white can himself, thought the youngsters would use the canes as weapons / swords. That policy has long since been done away with.
In the province of The Pass, El Paso, Texas, Burns blossomed. In 1967 he entered the Creative Writing Program at the University of Texas at El Paso, earning a masters degree in 1970. Starting in 1970 he taught Literature and Composition classes at the El Paso Community College (EPCC.)  In 1971, Burns and his famous partner, Poncho, bought the Back Door Lounge.
In 1974, on the day of inspiration, at the Back Door Lounge, Burns called his friend and fellow educator at the El Paso Community College, also a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso Creative Writing Program , Richard Santelli and told him to come to the bar to discuss the idea of an anthology of contemporary southwest literature. Which Burns titled 'PASSING THROUGH.' They decided to do it and pitch the book to the El Paso Community College as the new freshman reader.
W. Burns Taylor and Richard Santelli immediately formed their own publishing company, Santay Publishing. And they were soon blessed with the assistance of the legendary 'Printer at the Pass,' Carl Hertzog, as the book's typographer. Also, they were blessed by one of El Paso's most beloved and immortal artists, Manuel Acosta, whose painting adorns the books front cover. But most importantly they selected a most magnificent list of contemporay southwest literature by many noted, accomplished, talented writers for inclusion in the anthology.
The selections in the book
(Many published here for the first time) include:
Part I:  Man Seeking Inner Purpose:
Circles  by Carlos Flores --
Beat Remnants  by Steve Peters --
Golden Years  by Robert Z. quevedo --
Viejo  by Joseph Somoza --
Oklahoma : Going Back  by Joy Harjo --
Uncle Stephen's Funeral  by Lawrence Millburn --
Science With A Human Face?  by Edward Abbey --
The Old Man and His Snake  by Keith Wilson --
Stevens Point  by Ricardo Sanchez --
To the Old Woman  by Rafael Jesus Gonzalez --
First Labor of Susan  by John Dodds --
An Excursion into Mr. Reade  by Elroy Bode --
Crossing the Bridge on Foot to Juarez
by Anthony Piccione --
Michael Came a Long Way Down
by Richard Santelli --
Rush Hour on the BMT  by Rhoda Milnarich --
Doing a Good One for the Red Man  by Mark Medoff
Part II: Man Reshaping the Order:
A Comparative Approach to Minority Literature
by Les Standiford --
The Hitchhiker  by Kathleen McGary --
Just Breakfast  by W. Burns Taylor --
Lo Humano  by Ricardo Sanchez --
For that Indian in Ignacio  by Joy Harjo --
Backward Orientation  by Robert Burlingame --
Vases  by Steve Peters --
Myths of Pershing's Mexican Campaign
by Haldeen Braddy --
The Subject of Dust  by Minerva Caples --
Landscape : Cutter, New Mexico
by Howard McCord --
The Pioneer : for SB  by Bert Almon --
Robin's Song  by Michael Dobberstein --
4855 & Other Jive  by C. R. Giles
Part III:
Man's Awareness of his Natural Environment:
The Man Who Knew the Colt Boy  by Gene Keller --
Easter Sunday  by Kathleen McGary --
Nut  by Elroy Bode --
Winter-flowering Bush  by Robert Burlingame --
Gallop Poem  by Joy Harjo --
The Rim of the Great Basin  by Howard McCord --
The Wyatt Earp Syndrome  by C. L. Sonnichsen --
Cornfield  by Joseph Somoza --
Burro man  by Keith Wilson --
Ocotillo Red  by Michael Dobberstein --
For Tom Numkena, Hopi Spokane
by Harold Littlebird --
More than we had thought : Cabeza de Vaca, Haniel Long, and our day   by Robert Burlingame --
In a Park with Lao-Tse  by Bert Almon
Part IV.
Man Encountering the Idea of God:
Star Man  by Richard Santelli --
Hijo del Pueblo  by Leroy V. Quintana --
Apache Spring  by Keith Wilson --
Anxiously We Have Waited Our Time
by Robert Sandoval --
On a 35th Birthday  by Rhoda Milnarich --
Guerin Returns  by Les Standiford --
You Were Dreaming  by Steve Peters --
Soulwinner  by C. R. Giles --
Reflections  by Tony J. Stafford --
To an Old Guitarist Aging  by W. Burns Taylor --
Vision After a Confession  by Robert Burlingame --
Blackout  by Abelardo Delgado --
Four Notes on Death  by Anthony Piccione --
Reptiles  by Howard McCord --
A Last Laugh for Ambrose Bierce  by Dale L. Walker
Part V.
Man Finding a Means of Sharing with Another Person:
The Witch of El Paso  by John Rechy --
Puerto Rican Country Girl   by Joseph Somoza --
Quinceanera  by Gene Keller --
Seductions of Wistful Fulfillment  by John Dodds --
Declarative  by Rafael Jesus Gonzalez --
Homero Leaves Town  by Minerva Caples --
Death and the Sea  by Mary G. Collins --
Crawlin Blacksnake Sings : for Leroy  by Gene Keller --
In Memory and Praise  by Robert Burlingame --
Grandpa's Friend  by Roberto Sandoval --
Bridge Over the Pecos  by Keith Wilson --
Pennsylvania Winter Indian, 1974
by Harold Littlebird --
The Search  by Howard McCord
It was a tremendous undertaking and made more so when the EPCC, in search of a new freshman reader,  ordered 2,000 copies for delivery in four months. Burns & Santelli were quickly lining up the writers & selections but had only a very rough design for the book. Hence, Hertzog, at the end of his carrier, rose to the occasion and got the printing job done.
There were errors made in the rush to get the book printed but the press was stopped and corrections made. For example the first copies of the press in 1974 had Burns' name spelled as Burns W. Taylor instead of W. Burns Tayor. Burns, now 79, says that when he realized his name was spelled wrong it was only the tip of the iceberg. By the time the newly edited edition in 1975 was released all the errors had been caught and corrected. The book was a literary hit and picked-up by libraries throughout the country. Publisher's Weekly editor John Baker loved the book and sarcastically subtiled the book: 'WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM A BLIND PROOFREADER?'
In 1978 Burns left El Paso for Los Angeles and the University of Southern California. He earned a masters degree (1981) in Professional Writing from USC where he also met his future wife, Valora.
In 1981, while teaching a class called 'Living With Blindness' at the Braille Institute in Los Angeles, Burns met a great friend, who would go on to become a famous playwrite and founder of the Watts Village Theater in Los Angeles. His name was Lynn Manning. Lynn had recently himself been blinded by a madman's surprise gunshot to the face while sitting in a Los Angles bar.
At the time, a novice to blindness and the art of writing, Lynn was inspired and mentored by Burns on both being blind and being a writer. Lynn credited Burns with, among many other things, as teaching him "how to pee like a man again" (standing instead of sitting and not missing the toilet) - "I been pissing like a bitch" - Lynn Manning
Burns lived with Valora in Los Angles until 1991. He had several poems and short stories published during that period.  El Paso was on his mind, so Burns brought Valora to El Paso in 1991, where they have remained since.
Weldon Burns Taylor may be the first blind editor of a book in Texas, maybe even the United States. I don't really know, but I have never heard of another. I do know that 'PASSING THROUGH ~ AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY SOUTHWEST LITERATURE' is a very desirable and collectible book which belongs on they shelves of any serious lover of great southwest literature.
Weldon Burns Taylor, a poet by trade and  heart, is the author of several published works, including an epic book of his poems titled 'HANDS LIKE EYES ~ POEMS, SONGS and FANTASIES.' (2014)
I have known Burns for almost a decade now. I've been his driver and reader from time to time, but mostly we are buddies. Burns and his beloved wife, Valora took me in at the beginning of the virus quarantine (I was caught freestyling between Chicago and El Paso, only a pick-up truck for shelter - homeless!) I skidaddled for El Paso.
Back in the provenance of the Pass, safe in the Taylor residence, I eventually noticed Burns had a few copies of 'Passing Through' around the house. This book I have had success selling on EBAY for two decades. But I have never seen a copy signed by Burns Taylor. After some major arm twisting, I convinced Burns to sign a pristine copy and allow me to offer it here on EBAY. He won't sign another for some unknown reason. But he continues to live his life to the maximum, to 'PLAY ON!' - 'play on until the walls cave in.' I call him Texas' Oldest Living Poet - he is working on what probably will be his last poem. There will never be another Burns. He has been a hell of a trip. In words similar to those of the illustrious early El Paso author, Owen P. White, whom Burns is probably a reincarnation of, ' He has tried but failed to destroy me!' (through heavy drinking and smoking.)
But he signed one book. Just one. Just one pristine 1975 copy. And this is it.
Adios!