by Debbie
Logos has the pleasure of being chosen to represent a new small-press edition from Sam Amico’s 
Middlearth Editions, “Two Answers: Told in Tribute to Lew Welch on the 40th Anniversary of his Occultation”.
This from the publisher:
“Printing began on the 40th anniversary of Lew’s disappearance, May 23. Soon afterward some type went missing; energies shifted–Hybernation or Exile…perhaps just too much silence; proofs receded; four months into Autumn. Here Lew returns to haunt this story and legacy with the unseen hand, the eye in the Sky & Black Wells Press. Unlimited thanks to Kush at Cloud House & SF Poetry Museum, who came up with the ritual concept.”
This 8 page, handsewn edition, limited to 86 copies, is signed by Upton, Amico (publisher), Sonnabend (photographer). This slim volume contains two poems by Charles Upton, a “Transmission Ritual Concept” by Kush, a print by Kush exclusive to this signed edition, and a photo by Casey Sonnabend. According to Sam Amico, the publisher, this book came together synchronistically as a convergence of Upton’s poems, Kush’s rambling through Lew Welch sites on the anniversary of his death, correspondence among them, and then Amico’s finding of an over-exposed photo by Sonnabend that was taken and rejected for an earlier book of Welch’s published letters. It is designed as a tribute to Welch and a recognition to the influence of Welch on these four touched lives.
More from the publisher:
The week was begun with the synchronistic perceptions of Kush, Charles Upton and myself on the actual day (May 23) in 2011–Kush went around the San Francisco Bay sites which Lew was known to frequent, reading for and being with Lew’s spirit…Charles had previously, by then, written the 2 poems of his. Kush and I spoke several times by phone to typographically “align” our perceived influence of Lew on us. This brought us back into a greater alignment with the value system that influenced us so profoundly in our youth. The whole of the “beat” movement seemed to be summoned into a present consciousness.
Casey Sonnabend’s photo of Lew surfaced in Lew’s book of Letters… Tucked into my copy was the “overexposure” that Casey had given to me some years before. The quality of the print impressed me as being a good fit for our collaboration. I have tried to remain faithful to the overexposure in reproducing it here through modern means of digital transference. Credit goes to Casey for his generosity to allow this reprint. As for Charles and Kush, the poems themselves speak volumes as to our reverence, and I hope that the printing will speak for me…a collaboration in the best sense of the word.
A very limited number of copies are available through Logos. If you would like to buy one, we have available both the signed edition for $125, and the unsigned edition (which also lacks the print by Kush described above) for $50. Please email for further details.
