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Rochester-American Patriot, Summer 1942

Page 7

WHERE THE READERS PLAY WITH STARS

(This edition of The Patriot is combined with the third issue of Stars. The following comments also refer to The Golden Atom, a non-profit magazine of ours which ran a merry course from October, 1939, to December, 1940, and which suspended publication when it began to monopolize all of our time. A prime favorite of the many nicknames given it, Golden Atom was also known as Lylda. Editior.)

From DOUGLAS WEBSTER, of Aberdeen, England:

"I have an issue of STARS here (I'm on holiday just now, and haven't much notes, magazines, &c.), and almost hesitate to comment upon it. For, alackaday me, I fear I can't always agree that "'Beauty is truth, truth beauty' -- that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know." Myself, I much like beautiful things, but I'm inclined to think there should be something else as well. One should not become lost in mere beauty -- it leads to visions of nothingness, and words that are lovely but mean not a thing. Which would describe most of the excerpts in this STARS (Dec.-Jan.). CSYoud would put it much more strongly -- ("beautiful nonsense") but whether it's taken a war to make him think that, or he's just grown out of the stage, I can't say. The truth, when it finds you, can be very far removed from beauty, except perhaps to the very cynically minded...No: I repeat, I wallow in beautiful things -- to a limited extent. But you shouldn't let them smother you."

(Editor's Reply: I believe you're right, Doug. We can see the living proof of it just by looking at the realities of present world-wide conditions. There never has been too much of beauty in this world, or genuine happiness in living, if you wish to put it that way, and it has almost always existed as something out of the ordinary in the so-called progress from day to day. Such beauty, and I would call it the essence of living, can only endure when suitably cherished and suitably protected by being made actual and self-evident to all, and thus to be maintained against the onslaught of possible outside enemies, in which case the high morale would be as powerful a factor for its security as the advanced weapons of annihilation of the time, kept no doubt, in special museums and scientific research laboratories. 

There would probably spring into being much more of such "beautiful nonsense" as you speak of, under such ideal conditions, and the only possible fear we should have in this respect is, as you say, being smothered in it, and eventually being worse off because of our lack of vigilance in not being able to differentiate between true beauty, such as love, kindness, brotherhood, and creative works of art and literature which renew faith and courage through inspiring vistas of the human spirit; and 'beautiful nonsense' of the type which includes daydreaming, art-for-art's own sake, nightmarish visions, and those who make such interlunar pursuits of beauty their primary interest.)

From W. PAUL COOK, of The Recluse Press:

"I enjoyed The Golden Atom and Stars very much. They are unusually clean and well-done jobs of mimeographing."

From BILL EVANS, of Salem, Oregon:

"Received the Golden Atoms and Stars all o.k. Sorry to see GA leave -- it was and still is, tops. It's one mag I can read over and over; never vulgar, never silly, always calm and dignified. There isn't much more to add...Looking over the file, I notice that it started well and kept improving steadily, not so much in material -- most of this was always good -- but in format and make-up. I certainly wish there was some way you could continue it. I liked especially the articles and reviews and, of course, the check list.

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WHERE THE READERS PLAY WITH STARS (This edition of The Patriot is combined with the third issue of Stars. The following comments also refer to The Golden Atom, a non-profit magazine of ours which ran a merry course from October, 1939, to December, 1940, and which suspended publication when it began to monopolize all of our time. A prime favorite of the many nicknames given it, Golden Atom was also known as Lylda. Editior.) From DOUGLAS WEBSTER, of Aberdeen, England: "I have an issue of STARS here (I'm on holiday just now, and haven't much notes, magazines, &c.), and almost hesitate to comment upon it. For, alackaday me, I fear I can't always agree that "'Beauty is truth, truth beauty' -- that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know." Myself, I much like beautiful things, but I'm inclined to think there should be something else as well. One should not become lost in mere beauty -- it leads to visions of nothingness, and words that are lovely but mean not a thing. Which would describe most of the excerpts in this STARS (Dec.-Jan.). CSYoud would put it much more strongly -- ("beautiful nonsense") but whether it's taken a war to make him think that, or he's just grown out of the stage, I can't say. The truth, when it finds you, can be very far removed from beauty, except perhaps to the very cynically minded...No: I repeat, I wallow in beautiful things -- to a limited extent. But you shouldn't let them smother you." (Editor's Reply: I believe you're right, Doug. We can see the living proof of it just by looking at the realities of present world-wide conditions. There never has been too much of beauty in this world, or genuine happiness in living, if you wish to put it that way, and it has almost always existed as something out of the ordinary in the so-called progress from day to day. Such beauty, and I would call it the essence of living, can only endure when suitably cherished and suitably protected by being made actual and self-evident to all, and thus to be maintained against the onslaught of possible outside enemies, in which case the high morale would be as powerful a factor for its security as the advanced weapons of annihilation of the time, kept no doubt, in special museums and scientific research laboratories. There would probably spring into being much more of such "beautiful nonsense" as you speak of, under such ideal conditions, and the only possible fear we should have in this respect is, as you say, being smothered in it, and eventually being worse off because of our lack of vigilance in not being able to differentiate between true beauty, such as love, kindness, brotherhood, and creative works of art and literature which renew faith and courage through inspiring vistas of the human spirit; and 'beautiful nonsense' of the type which includes daydreaming, art-for-art's own sake, nightmarish visions, and those who make such interlunar pursuits of beauty their primary interest.) From W. PAUL COOK, of The Recluse Press: "I enjoyed The Golden Atom and Stars very much. They are unusually clean and well-done jobs of mimeographing." From BILL EVANS, of Salem, Oregon: "Received the Golden Atoms and Stars all o.k. Sorry to see GA leave -- it was and still is, tops. It's one mag I can read over and over; never vulgar, never silly, always calm and dignified. There isn't much more to add...Looking over the file, I notice that it started well and kept improving steadily, not so much in material -- most of this was always good -- but in format and make-up. I certainly wish there was some way you could continue it. I liked especially the articles and reviews and, of course, the check list.