FROM
THE EDITOR
Bob's
sudden passing has been a shock to all of us. His steady hand
and generous spirit have made Modem Haiku the most respected
English-language haiku magazine on our planet. Those of us with
more limited abilities are left to carry on. When Bob took over
Modern Haiku, he was four years older than I am now. When
he did his last issue, twenty-eight. In 28 years, I hope to be
able to do as good a job as Bob did on the last issue.
I would like to sincerely thank the friends and patrons of Modern
Haiku for their generous support over the years. We hope that
your generosity will continue as we present today's haiku.
It
is my hope that the contributors, subscribers, and friends of
Modern Haiku will understand that the responsibility for
the reputation of Modern Haiku rests as much with them
as it does with the editorial staff of Modern Haiku. The
quality of the poetry and essays in Modern Haiku can only
be as good as the material you send us.
Bob
was well-known for his generosity with his time and talents. Until
we get the systems In place to produce and distribute the magazine,
I will not be able to be as responsive to people's individual
requests as I would like to be. Please have mercy and show your
understanding by only submitting your best work and by limiting
the frequency of your submissions.
The
fall 2002 issue will be a memorial to Bob and his work. The issue
will include the regular mix of poems, prose, and reviews as well
as tributes to Bob. Feel free to send memorial material- but keep
it separate from other submissions. Naturally, we will not be
able to include everything everyone sends in-it would surely come
to several hundred pages-but we will try to share a representative
sample. Please note that the final decisions on this special material
will not be made until after the deadline for the next issue,
so please do not expect the usual two-week-turnaround on these
submissions.
Thank
you for your kind thoughts and wishes over the past several months.
I look forward to getting to know all of you and your work better
as we continue Bob's work with Modern Haiku.
Yours
in haiku fellowship,
Lee
Gurga
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