The Thomas Wolfe Review

Abstract

FEATURED AUTHOR THE THOMAS WOLFE REVIEW Ted Mitchell The concept to launch a publication devoted to Thomas Wolfe emerged in Asheville in October, 1975, on a weekend when hundreds of Wolfe enthusiasts gathered in Wolfe's hometown to celebrate his 75th birthday. Among those there was John S. Phillipson, who held a position at the University of Akron as a professor of eighteenthcentury English literature. On the terrace of the Grove Park Inn, he dined with Richard Walser, a leading academic authority on Wolfe, andAldo P. Magi, an avidWolfe collector "whose knowledge ofWolfe reached deep within the covers of books by and about Wolfe on his shelves back in Sandusky, Ohio."1 The three friends agreed that Wolfe deserved a newsletter, if not a journal or review. Magi and Walser declared that Phillipson was the man to turn the idea into reality: He had energy, ability, enthusiasm, persuasiveness—this last-mentioned trait being all-important because he would have to sell officials of a northern college on backing a publication devoted to a southern writer.2 In 1976, the UniversityofAkron agreed to subsidize the periodical discussed in Asheville. Phillipson proposed that Magi become his Associate Editor: "I quickly countered that I was not academically fitted for such a position and that he should find someone better qualified than I," Magi recalled in 1992.a Phillipson strongly disagreed, arguing that Magi had been involved in Wolfe matters for a long time, knew many Wolfe devotees, and that his comprehensive Wolfe collection proved him sufficiently immersed in Wolfe Studies to erase any doubt ofqualification. Magi accepted Phillipson's summons, and a partnership was established that providedWolfe's followers with a fascinating accumulation ofmaterial that continues to this day. Phillipson and Magi began collecting materials for the first issue of The Thomas WolfeNewsletterwhich appeared in the Spring of 1977. Phillipson knew he would have to satisfy dean and department head 62 alike in order to continue sponsoring the publication. In an editorial in that first issue, he stated that This newsletter will seek to be neither excessively scholarly nor excessively popular. It hopes to attract articles on Wolfe that both the scholar and the non-professional reader will find of interest and value . . .4 The scholarly and the popular were successfully combined for first The Thomas Wolfe Newsletter (1977-1980) and then The Thomas Wolfe Review (1981-present). Special features such as "Wolfe Trails: News and Notes," "The Wolfe Pack: Bibliography," and "Wolfe Calls: Questions and Answers," endeared scholars and common readers to the publication. Phillipson insisted on keeping the periodical a broadbased miscellany, publishing poems, recollections ofWolfe, and events centering on Wolfe. Special issues were planned for occasions marking anniversaries of the publication of a Wolfe work or biographical milestones (such as the 50th year anniversary of the publication of Look Homeward, Angel). Phillipson also counted on the valuable assistance and editorial expertise ofDeborah A. Borland. Through the years the attractiveness of the publication was improved as it turned from staples to perfect binding, and photographs and drawings blended handsomely with the text. By 2000, the editorship had passed to the current editors Anne R. Zahlan and David Strange. It was decided to continue combining the twice-yearly publication in one annual issue that the previous editor, Terry Roberts had inaugurated. David Stranges additional responsibilities as a designer/compositer greatly improved the aesthetic aspect of the journal. NOTES i. Selected Essays from The Thomas Wolfe Newsletter/Review: A Memorial to Dr. John S. Phillipson, Editor, 1977-1996, Deborah A. Borland and John L. Idol, Jr., eds. The Thomas Wolfe Society, 1999. p. xi. 2. Ibid., p. xi. 3· The Thomas WolfeReview, Volume 16, Number 2, Fall 1992, p. 2. 4. The Thomas Wolfe Review, volume 1, Number 1, Spring 1977, p.2. 63 ...