A Note from Steve
What a pleasure and an education it has been to sift through the many prose submissions to BoomerLit over the last couple of years and to discover the excellent stories and essays we have published. However, since I am inching toward retiring—letting go of academic teaching and all but one of my editing commitments—I have decided to give the energy that has been going to this journal to some unfinished personal projects. I will of course miss the pleasure of finding new and exciting voices in the submissions pile at BoomerLit, and I will miss the fun and sometimes zany editing sessions with my old friend Leonard Lang, but it is time for a change.
In this, my final outing as co-editor of BoomerLitMag, I have had the luck to find two short stories addressing my favorite issues—the complexities and eventual warmth of family and friend relationships. “Brass Reflections,” by Karen Hildbrandt, paints a memorable picture of a youthful friendship viewed from advanced age. DS Levy’s “Doudette,” is, in a roundabout way, a blue-collar prodigal son story. Bad judgement, bad luck, and grown-up forbearance set the table for a quiet feast of tough love. Enjoy. It has been a pleasure.
And Now Leonard
This issue’s poets are often looking back less with nostalgia than increasing wonder and fewer, not more, answers as the years go on. Three of the poets use a map metaphor to show this: In Sylvia Beaupre “we would one day/see the lighted city for what it was,/ a mirage on a momentary map.’ Similarly, Prartho Sereno looking back on childhood notes,”The map is long-gone/and whatever was left of the holy water has surely/gone back into air.” And Charity Everitt writes,”There is no secret tunnel, no star map./We must live here always.”
Others take on Wallace Stevens, look at the stream of consciousness in buying a cup of coffee, and see how important keeping a door open can be. Please open your door to this issue’s poets.
Changes
Steve’s departure is a big change for the magazine. It’s been rewarding to have worked with him, including all the banter and challenging, smart (and often smartass), discussions about the magazine. It’s helped me think more deeply about each potential work of prose and poetry that made it to final considerations. I will miss that. More important, the magazine will miss his work and wise counsel as well.
Leonard Lang and Stephen Peters, Editors