Loch Raven Review Literary Extravaganza: Review and Comments

First a review of last night's event by Dave Eberhardt

Last night's Loch Raven Review literary extravanganza emceed by Chris George was an amazing success-with 30 + in attendance-a good number for a reading- many glittering personalities in the audience-

Many PIB (Poetry in Baltimore) members were represented, not just those published in the Review- which is, perhaps, Baltimore's classiest.

Mike North- the Bardmaster-channeling Johnny Cash in attire- raw, corruscating power

Danuta E Kosk-Kosicka- a poem read in Polish? a very dignified and noble presentation- must be descended from Polish nobility...look at that name!

Michael Salcman- serene, Olympian, classicism- most polished- Michael is a show stealer.

Alan Reese- most entertaining- with a lit up nose and poetry to match- Alan stole the show; when is he going to get that med mix right?.

Dino Pantazonis from Ohio- quirky, down home, highly accomplished work- appearance by his beloved Kiwi- definitely stole the show.

David Eberhardt- raw, corruscating power

Caryn Coyle- at once, pathos and sex represented in fiction- rock and roll- troggish

Charles Rammelkamp- a hilarious prose excerpt, a product garanteed to make you more youthful

Mike Monroe- a geek that turns into a Hell's Angel poet

Chris George- wonderful poetry about Mum- usual Liverpudlian brilliance; this reading was Chris's idea and Dave E helped with the organizing. Thanks to Neil and Jim of B & N. An added feature- Chris gave a bit of history about Johns Hopkins, who stared down upon us imperiously from a highly placed banner. He also described the Loch Raven Review and introduced fellow editors present.

Dan Cuddy- Dan's usual Carneyan brilliance....bounty from the county.

Julie Fisher- PIB mother dominatrix- her usual warm, quirky wit.

The reading went from 7- 8: 30 at the Barnes and Noble at 33rd and St./ Paul on 12/16. Mark Sanders could not make it- being under the weather. His poster with a sexy black haired Santress much admired.

Thanks, Dave.

In regard to merchant Johns Hopkins, whose money provided the endowment for the university and the hospital that bear his name -- I note that those institutions don't dare name it M&T University or anything like that, as with the way of things these days -- he was born in Anne Arundel County in 1795. At that time, his Quaker family owned slaves but along with a number of other Quaker families, the Hopkinses gave up their slaves, setting them free, showing some enlightenment. Of course some Quakers, notably flour miller Elisha Tyson (1749–1824), openly helped former African American slaves to escape in the Underground Railroad.

Johns Hopkins -- the name "Johns" is a family surname not a first name -- never married. He made his fortune in railroads at the time of the Civil War. The man was arguably a carpetbagger or war profiteer. When he died in 1873, he left his money to found the university and hospital, but before the will was read no one knew that his fortune would be used for that. During his lifetime, he had told nobody about his intentions. For all anyone knew, he had died an old miser.

One other Bit O' Trivia:

If you travel west on 33rd Street past the Bookstore, the street deadends onto North Charles Street, and you are facing the monumental head of Johns Hopkins mounted on a plinth. That monument used to be in the center of Charles Street and the traffic going both ways had to go around it. In 1954, there was a major traffic accident when two fire trucks collided when they were responding to a report of a fire at one of the student dormitories at the university. Two firemen were killed in the collision. It was after that tragedy that the statue was moved to the side of the road.