Vollmer, Judith

The Door Open to the Fire [signed]

Cleveland: Cleveland State University Poetry Center, 1998. First printing. Paperback. Wraps, warmly inscribed by Vollmer to Chuck Kinder and Diane Cecily on the titlepage, clean unmarked text, very good copy, wear to the outer pages and the covers. From the library of Chuck Kinder (1946-2019) and Diane Cecily. Kinder, a native of West Virginia, was a legendary creative writing professor at Pitt, famous for having been Raymond Carver’s dear friend in the 1970s-80s (“my best friend, drinking companion and fellow outlaw”) and for inspiring Michael Chabon, whose character Grady Tripp in “Wonder Boys” is Chabon’s loving tribute to his old mentor. As a Stegner Fellow at Stanford in 1972, Kinder became close friends with Scott Turow, Richard Price, Max Crawford, William Kittredge, and Carver, and later Richard Ford, Gurney Norman, Ed McClanahan, Tess Gallagher, Tobias Wolff, and S. Clay Wilson. His wife, Diane Cecily (1942-2026) was Raymond Carver’s love interest in the early 1970s, and was well acquainted with the Missoula bunch that Kinder had become involved with. They married in 1975 and when Kinder took a job at Pitt in 1980, their home quickly became the heart of the local literary scene. The two were known for their nurturing generosity, storytelling, loyalty and hospitality, and they were great believers in the supportive power of literary communities. Very good. Item #0092672
ISBN: 1880834413

Price: $35.00