Burning Bridges Research Articles

Organizational communication strategies in response to major disruptions: the case of the worsening situation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand communication strategies formed by multinational subsidiaries in a transition economy during disruptive events. The authors develop and test a framework based on political realism and situational crisis communication theory (SCCT).Design/methodology/approachThe authors collect and analyze communication statements from multinational subsidiaries located in Russia and made in the first two months (March–April, 2022) of the Russia–Ukraine conflict.FindingsThis study’s main findings are twofold. First, this study extends SCCT by showing that multinational subsidiaries use communication strategies that go beyond the traditional categories of diminish, rebuild and bolster. In particular, this study identifies so-called “shut the door” and “burning bridges” methods as possible industrial and home country contingent communication strategies. Second, this study shows that possession of a political realism lens provides us with powerful communication strategies made requisite during disruptive events.Practical implicationsThe results provide practical hands-on advice for subsidiary managers on how to communicate effectively and efficiently during disruptive events such as the one described. This study offers novel communication strategies that help to understand the wider implications for managers in both home and host countries.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first papers to apply SCCT and political realism to a current disruptive event for multinational enterprises, i.e. the ongoing Russia–Ukraine conflict. In that context, this study expands both perspectives by highlighting their complementarities and their conceptual boundaries. The authors can base those insights on two unique and purpose-built databases of multinational subsidiary characteristics in Russia-proper.

Building, not burning bridges in research: Insider/outsider dilemmas and engaging with the bridge community

Researchers navigate a complex network of relationships, positions, and responsibilities that are determined by their discipline, funding bodies, and the research community they are studying. Tensions often emerge between and across each of these different spaces. This paper uses reflexive autobiographical writing to discuss some of the ongoing challenges faced with engaging a diverse group of stakeholders in relation to sociological research on the gender inequalities of bridge as a serious leisure activity. Drawing on the researchers’ personal notes and exchanges during a project on sexism and the card game bridge, as well as the survey data from this project, this paper explores the ways that a combined team of insider/outsider researchers strive to balance the relationship and commitment they have to the pursuit of knowledge and the user community. Many projects face this balancing act which can permeate every stage of the research process and can be witnessed frequently in project meetings, yet there is still little published in relation to these conversations that take place between research team members.

Impacts and Possible Responses Related to COVID-19 in the Textile and Apparel Industry of Bangladesh

This research work was intended to analyze the unleashed issues related to apparel trade during COVID-19 pandemic & made an attempt to find the best possible responses to uphold marketing campaigns during & after the pandemic situation. Apparel industries in Asia, the largest global hub of both the textile & apparel import-export trade have been severally damaged by the COVID-19. Over the last one year, the global community had already realized the fact that how pandemic situation disrupted the supply chain management of textile, apparel & fashion manufacturing industries throughout the world. Bangladesh, one of the top ranked garments exporter countries have been facing the burning bridges, due to the scarcity of raw materials & gradual cancellation export orders. The contribution of the apparel industry is more significant for the socioeconomic growth of a 3rd world countries like Bangladesh, just because apparel contributes almost 84% of its total export income with the involvement of 4.5 million people approximately. The following research paper conveys a three-fold story. In the very beginning portion, there are some reviews & analysis of the overall scenarios of the COVID-19 pandemic with presence of several business reports, academic journals, market research, manufacture's opinions & stakeholders' strategies. The second phase of the research work forecasts the possible responses need to be projected during & after the pandemic situation. Finally, this study predicts an ideal footprint to cope up with similar sort of situations in the future.

Cops, robbers, and burning bridges

We consider a variant of Cops and Robbers wherein each edge traversed by the robber is deleted from the graph. The focus is on determining the minimum number of cops needed to capture a robber on a graph $G$, called the {\em bridge-burning cop number} of $G$ and denoted $c_b(G)$. We determine $c_b(G)$ exactly for several elementary classes of graphs and give a polynomial-time algorithm to compute $c_b(T)$ when $T$ is a tree. We also study two-dimensional square grids and tori, as well as hypercubes, and we give bounds on the capture time of a graph (the minimum number of rounds needed for a single cop to capture a robber on $G$, provided that $c_b(G) = 1$).

Substrate stiffness tunes the dynamics of polyvalent rolling motors.

Nature has evolved many mechanisms for achieving directed motion on the subcellular level. The burnt-bridges ratchet (BBR) is one mechanism used to achieve superdiffusive molecular motion over long distances through the successive cleavage of surface-bound energy-rich substrate sites. This mechanism has been associated with both nanoscale and microscale movement, with the latter accomplished through polyvalent interactions between a large hub (e.g. influenza virus) and substrate (e.g. cell surface receptors). Experimental successes in achieving superdiffusive motion by synthetic polyvalent BBRs have raised questions about the dynamics of their motility, including whether rolling or translation is better able to direct motion of microscale spherical hubs. Here we simulate the three-dimensional dynamics of a polyvalent sphere moving on and cleaving an elastic substrate. We find that substrate stiffness plays an important role in controlling both the motor's mode of motility and its directional persistence. As we tune lateral substrate stiffness from soft to stiff we find there exists an intermediate value that optimizes rolling behaviour. We also find that there is an optimal substrate stiffness for maximizing persistence length, while stiffness does not influence as strongly the superdiffusive dynamics of the particle. Lastly, we examine the effect of substrate density, and show that softer landscapes are better able to buffer against decreases in substrate occupancy, with the spherical motor maintaining superdiffusive motion more on softer landscapes than on stiff landscapes as occupancy drops. Our results highlight the importance of surface in controlling the motion of polyvalent BBRs.

Switching On and Off Macrophages by a “Bridge‐Burning” Coating Improves Bone‐Implant Integration under Osteoporosis

AbstractOsteoporosis poses substantial challenges for biomaterials implantation. New approaches to improve bone‐implant integration should resolve the fundamental dilemma of inflammation—proper inflammation is required at early stages but should be suppressed later for better healing, especially under osteoporosis. However, precisely switching on and off inflammation around implants in vivo remains unachieved. To address this challenge, a “bridge‐burning” coating material that comprises a macrophage‐activating glycan covalently crosslinked by a macrophage‐eliminating bisphosphonate to titanium implant surface is designed. Upon implantation, the glycan instructs host macrophages to release pro‐osteogenic cytokines (“switch‐on”), promoting bone cell differentiation. Later, increasingly mature bone cells secrete alkaline phosphatase to cleave the glycan‐bisphosphonate complexes from the implant, which in turn selectively kill the proinflammatory macrophages (“switch‐off”) that have completed their contribution—hence in the manner of “burning bridges”—to promote healing. In vivo examination in an osteoporotic rat model demonstrates that this coating significantly enhances bone‐implant integration (88.4% higher contact ratio) through modulating local inflammatory niches. In summary, a bioresponsive, endogenously triggered, smart coating material is developed to sequentially harness and abolish the power of inflammation to improve osseointegration under osteoporosis, which represents a new strategy for designing immunomodulatory biomaterials for tissue regeneration.

Regeneration of Burnt Bridges on a DNA Catenane Walker.

DNA walkers are molecular machines that can move with high precision onthe nanoscale due to their structural and functional programmability. Despite recent advances in the field that allow exploring different energy sources, stimuli, and mechanisms of action for these nanomachines, the continuous operation and reusability of DNA walkers remains challenging because in most cases the steps, once taken by the walker, cannot be taken again. Herein we report the path regeneration of a burnt‐bridges DNA catenane walker using RNase A. This walker uses a T7RNA polymerase that produces long RNA transcripts to hybridize to the path and move forward while the RNA remains hybridized to the path and blocks it for an additional walking cycle. We show that RNA degradation triggered by RNase A restores the path and returns the walker to the initial position. RNase inhibition restarts the function of the walker.

Regeneration of Burnt Bridges on a DNA Catenane Walker

AbstractDNA walkers are molecular machines that can move with high precision onthe nanoscale due to their structural and functional programmability. Despite recent advances in the field that allow exploring different energy sources, stimuli, and mechanisms of action for these nanomachines, the continuous operation and reusability of DNA walkers remains challenging because in most cases the steps, once taken by the walker, cannot be taken again. Herein we report the path regeneration of a burnt‐bridges DNA catenane walker using RNase A. This walker uses a T7RNA polymerase that produces long RNA transcripts to hybridize to the path and move forward while the RNA remains hybridized to the path and blocks it for an additional walking cycle. We show that RNA degradation triggered by RNase A restores the path and returns the walker to the initial position. RNase inhibition restarts the function of the walker.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Large Composite Grafts: An Alternative in Pediatric Facial Reconstruction

Management of pediatric facial defects can be challenging, as reattachment of large composite grafts is usually unsuccessful. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) has been researched to augment composite graft survival, but clinical use for this application remains anecdotal. The authors present their successful experience managing select cases with large composite grafts and HBO as an adjunct. A retrospective chart review identified children presenting with facial defects and managed operatively with large composite grafts (≥1.5 × 1.5 cm) and HBO therapy. Records were reviewed for defect characteristics, management details, and outcomes at last follow-up. Nine children (avg. 8.4 years, range 1.6-15.1) presented with ear or nose defects secondary to dog bites (n=7), falls (n=1), or congenital causes (n=1). Three experienced ear amputations, and six suffered nasal avulsions of varying degrees. All avulsed ears were reattached. Three cases of nose avulsions were reattached; the other three underwent secondary reconstruction with composite ear grafts. HBO was initiated immediately and continued for 8-10 days. All grafts survived at least 80% with no postoperative complications. At last follow-up (avg. 30.1 months; 0.8-63.9), all patients demonstrated good cosmetic results with minimal residual deformity. When reconstruction of pediatric facial defects warrants a large chondrocutaneous graft, immediate postoperative HBO therapy can increase survival. Particularly when reattaching amputated segments, if successful, this approach offers an anatomically ideal result without donor site morbidity. If unsuccessful, it does not "burn bridges" and decreases the extent of secondary reconstruction.The authors present their HBO protocol along with a review of available literature.

Harraga: Burning borders, navigating colonialism

In this article I introduce the non-English word, harraga, to address the convoluted nature of migration, death, borders and colonial legacies. My empirical material comes from the south of Tunisia. I draw on practices of migration from Tunisia, the extraction of resources and its effect on the economy of the country, and the washing ashore of bodies on the southern Tunisian coast. I also reflect on the recent European border management in this area that is intended to stop migration from both Tunisia and Libya. Harraga (الحراقة) is an Arabic word used in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. It could be translated as those who burn. A pragmatic or accommodating translation would be ‘sans papiers’, or ‘undocumented migrants’. However, harraga is not a word for a group of people, but for an activity. The activity of moving out of the Magreb. Those who engage in harga, ‘burn’ borders in order to enter European territories, or overstay their visa. Yet enfolded in the word harraga is much more than the activity of leaving for Europe. I will slowly unpack this word and show that (1) harraga is not about identity (the migrant/the refugee), but an activity, the activity of burning borders and of expanding living space; (2) harraga is not about burning bridges or leaving histories behind, but about crafting connections as well as colonial extractions; (3) harraga problematizes Europe’s borders by siding with those who burn them, human beings.

Burning Bridges: Senator Rush Dew Holt and the Guffey Coal Acts of 1935 and 1937

Burning Bridges: Senator Rush Dew Holt and the Guffey Coal Acts of 1935 and 1937 C. Lloyd Tomlinson The legislative session was drawing to a close on the evening of June 20, 1936, the day after Rush Dew Holt’s thirty-first birthday. The United States Senate was ready to vote on a replacement bill for the Guffey-Snyder Act, a law intended to stabilize the bituminous coal industry. The Supreme Court overturned the 1935 law barely a month before with its decision in Carter v. Carter Coal Company. The court ruled that local wages and hours did not fall within the federal government’s powers to regulate interstate commerce, thereby rendering the law null and void. The Senate worked hastily to churn out a replacement and essentially stripped the labor protections from the new bill. The amended legislation had the support of the majority of the Senate as well as the president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW), John L. Lewis. The new bill was almost guaranteed to pass.1 Holt, the “Boy Senator” from West Virginia, had other plans. The junior senator took the floor and declared that he would spend his unlimited time reading from Aesop’s Fables. In addition to reading Aesop, Holt attacked Lewis for siding with the coal companies over the miners, lambasted West Virginia’s senior senator Matthew Neely for ignoring the miners in their state, and ripped into the Works Progress Administration for acting as a tool of political patronage. By the time he concluded his filibuster and the Senate adjourned, it was 11:55 p.m., and the bill was dead.2 The filibuster left an undeniable impact on Holt’s image and political career. Rush Holt Jr., in the inaugural lecture named for his father, notes that the senator “became a man without a party” that some viewed as “fearlessly honest, while others perceived him as quixotic, unreliable, and ungrateful to those who had supported him.”3 Through the remainder of his term, Holt grew increasingly isolated. The results of the 1940 primary election ensured that Holt would not return to the Senate for the next term.4 While the filibuster remains an excellent piece of political theater, as well as the defining moment of Holt’s Senate career, it merely scratches the surface of his fight against legislation that he believed did not help working [End Page 29] West Virginians. The 1936 filibuster began Holt’s shift toward becoming more critical of the New Deal. It also created a deep personal and political rivalry with Senator Joseph Guffey of Pennsylvania, who cosponsored the legislation, as well as Senator Matthew Neely of West Virginia. After the filibuster, their feud played out in the public sphere: political rallies, the press, and the airwaves all served as battlegrounds. Holt also managed to make enemies of John L. Lewis and UMW District 17 president Van W. Bittner. Though Holt found himself a pariah by the end of the decade, he nevertheless remained convinced that he was fighting for the best interests of coal miners throughout West Virginia. Rush Holt has been covered by a handful of historians to date. Jerry Bruce Thomas takes a sharply critical view of Holt, pointing out his attempts to use New Deal programs as a form of political patronage to get a job for his brother, Matthew, and his persona as a reckless maverick who “took any sort of disagreement on issues as a personal attack and tended to respond in kind.”5 A doctoral dissertation by William Coffey remains the most thorough study of Holt’s life and career to date. It functions as a fairly evenhanded biographical treatment, though it does not examine his career past 1942.6 In 2011, Rush Holt Jr. delivered the inaugural Rush D. Holt lecture, which focused on the filibuster and its immediate consequences.7 The filibuster figures prominently in each of these works, revealing its importance in West Virginia and American politics, as well as its impact on the bituminous coal industry. Bituminous coal mining had been a “sick industry” for decades before the passage of the Guffey Act. It was an industry bloated by excessive competition...

Lessons from a postdoc gone wrong.

I sat hunched over my computer screen, analyzing data, when a university administrator walked into our lab and handed out a series of sealed envelopes. Puzzled, I opened the letter addressed to me: “It has become necessary for the University to effect a layoff of your position as a Postdoctoral Scholar.” In silence, my labmates opened their own letters, all of which said essentially the same thing. I knew that our lab was under investigation, but I had no inkling that my job was in jeopardy, so the news came as a huge shock. My mind raced from concerns about my personal finances—“How will I pay rent?”—to questions about my future in science: “How will we finish our experiments? Will this mark the end of my research career?” ![Figure][1] ILLUSTRATION: ROBERT NEUBECKER Three years earlier, I had started my postdoc brimming with enthusiasm, excited to work for a brilliant scientist on a project that, we hoped, would help people with hearing loss—a group that includes me. My enthusiasm was short-lived. Almost as soon as I arrived, it became clear that the lab had problems. For one, my supervisor had been receiving animal care violation warnings for the lab's work with mice for years. They continued to pile up during my tenure, at times forcing us to suspend our experiments. Eventually, our funding was cut off entirely and the lab was shut down. I ended up digging out of the mess and moving on to a second postdoc. Now I'm back to doing research that I love in a functional lab, and I'm glad I persevered. But looking back, I wish I hadn't sunk so much time into my first postdoc lab. I should have quit and moved on much sooner. For others who may be in similar situations, here are tips to avoid drowning with a sinking ship. DO NOT BE BLINDED BY PASSION. Enthusiasm and drive are key ingredients for scientific careers. However, they can be problematic when they prevent you from seeing warning signs clearly. My intense desire to find treatments to reverse hearing loss led me to mistakenly write off serious lab issues as small bumps in the road. Had I been more objective, I would have realized that those “bumps” were actually major obstacles. TAKE PERSONNEL DYNAMICS SERIOUSLY. Collaboration and teamwork are essential in science; you can't function as an island. Blinded by passion, I disregarded the lack of honest communication with my supervisor about the problems in our lab. In retrospect, that was an obvious warning sign. DO NOT BE TRAPPED BY FEAR. I fretted that if I didn't publish anything from my postdoc, no one would hire me. That's one reason I stuck with my ill-fated lab. But the concern turned out to be unfounded. Finding a new position after I was laid off wasn't easy, but I survived by being transparent about what happened and pushing forward with confidence. One thing that helped me move past my postdoc mess was looking back at my past successes to remind myself that I am a good scientist. FOCUS ON YOURSELF. Pointing fingers is easy, but burning bridges—and wasting energy on casting blame—won't help you move forward. When problems arise, don't engage in pointless battles. Instead, take stock of your situation and decide what's best for you. Write down the pros and cons of your job; examine your career goals; and talk to your trusted mentors, colleagues, friends, and family. Along the way, be open to the possibility that it may be best to quit. DO NOT WAIT FOR THE LAST STRIKE. Don't waste time in a bad environment. During my 3 years in my first postdoc lab, there were many times when I should have quit, but instead I hung on, hoping the situation would improve. Your life is not a game. Don't wait for strike three. [1]: pending:yes

The Role of the Visor Flap in Scalp Reconstruction: A Case Series of 21 Patients.

Full-thickness scalp defects pose a reconstructive problem, especially in the setting of infection, chemotherapy/radiation, and underlying cranial defects. Current options include dermal matrices, skin grafts, and local flaps. Local flaps often fail, requiring subsequent microvascular free flap reconstruction. To describe the visor flap, a novel bipedicled advancement flap design, and its role in reconstruction of scalp defects. A retrospective review of 21 adult patients who developed scalp defects reconstructed using the visor flap from 2013 to 2017. The visor flap is a large bipedicled advancement flap design with a triangular extension at the base, which allows redistribution of a large surface area of the scalp. All 21 patients achieved complete and viable soft tissue coverage of the recipient site, but 19.0% developed complications unrelated to flap viability, requiring reoperation (infected bone flap, epidural hematoma, and recurrent glioblastoma with subdural abscess). Only 1 patient required conversion to free flap reconstruction due to cerebrospinal fluid leak. Etiologies included cancer (76.1%), cerebrovascular disease (19.0%), and traumatic brain injury (4.8%). Preoperative radiation (42.9%), bone/hardware exposure (57.1%), and previous craniotomy (85.7%) were widely prevalent. Defect size ranged from 3 to 50 cm2 (mean, 16.9 cm2), and flap size ranged from 90 to 500 cm2 (mean, 222 cm2). The visor flap provides an innovative solution for closure of scalp defects. This technique optimizes immediate closure of tissue compromised by infection or chemotherapy/radiation without burning bridges to more complex reconstructive options.

The truth about burning bridges

The truth about burning bridges

Friendly fire? Negative campaigning among coalition partners

In democracies with multi-party competition, government parties face a dual challenge in election campaigns: on the one hand, they have to compete against and criticize their coalition partners. On the other hand, they should avoid virulent attacks on their partners to preserve their chances of future collaboration in government. Going beyond a dichotomous operationalization of negative campaigning, this manuscript analyses the tonality and volume of negative campaigning. Studying 3030 party press releases in four national Austrian election campaigns, different patterns for the tonality and frequency of negative campaigning reflect the electoral dilemma of government parties. Coalition parties criticize each other abundantly but refrain from ‘burning bridges’ with their partners through virulent attacks. These findings have implications for studying negative campaigning and coalition politics.

Evaluation of Results of Calcaneo-Stop Procedure in Treatment of Pediatric Flexible Flatfoot

AbstractBackground: Flexible flatfoot is a common finding in pediatrics. It is usually amenable to conservative treatment but in less frequent occasions, some cases are not optimally responsive to conservative measures. Calcaneo-stop procedure is minimally invasive and safe resort for this cases after failure of conservative measures.Objective: Evaluate the results of treatment of pediatric flexible flatfoot by Calcaneo-stop procedure only after ex-haustion of six months of supervised conservative management.Study Design and Setting: A prospective randomized clinical trial in a tertiary care center.Patients and Methods: 20 cases of pediatric flexible flatfoot (ten patients) were operated on after failure of six months of conservative treatment. All patients were evaluated pre-operative and post-operative via Kite's angle, Meary's angle and according to American college of Foot and Ankle Society score (ACFAS). A p-value of less than 0.001 was considered statistically significant.Results: There was statistically significant improvement in Meary's, Kite's angle. While ACFAS score measurement was better than preoperative score in all cases but not statis-tically significant.Conclusion: Calcaneo-stop is safe, minimally invasive and effective in treatment of pediatric flexible flatfoot also it doesn't burn bridges for other adjuvant procedures later on.

Action Anthropology in a Free Clinic

In this article, we describe a mixed methods study in a free clinic for uninsured, impoverished, and medically vulnerable persons in Syracuse, New York. Our model, Community Action Research and Education, draws on Action Anthropology, as developed by Sol Tax, in which faculty, students, and community members work together to develop and conduct the research. The study includes a quantitative review of 600 patients' charts and two rounds of qualitative patient interviews on health literacy and life history. The findings indicate that the patients had higher than expected education. For many, the consequences of mental illness and substance dependence led to job loss, incarceration, homelessness, and burning bridges with family members. This study provides information for policymakers in light of the present challenges to the Affordable Care Act. In addition, the study provided data for the clinic administrators to use in funding requests and fine-tuning their services. Students benefitted as well by learni...

Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty: are we burning bridges?

Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty: are we burning bridges?

God Almighty Hisself: The Life and Legacy of Dick Allen by Mitchell Nathanson

Reviewed by: God Almighty Hisself: The Life and Legacy of Dick Allen by Mitchell Nathanson Michael Haupert Mitchell Nathanson. God Almighty Hisself: The Life and Legacy of Dick Allen. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016. 393 pp. Cloth, $36.50. Mitchell Nathanson does the seemingly impossible: he gets inside the head of one of baseball's most famous head cases, Dick/Richie/Rick/Sleepy Allen. Or at least he attempts to. Whether he succeeds or not may never be known, since Allen himself never seems to be sure what exactly is going on in his head. Nathanson, without benefit of an interview with his subject, digs deeply into what made Dick Allen tick. He traces Allen's childhood, Minor League Baseball struggles with racism in Little Rock in the early 1960s, and rocky Major League Baseball career, during which he battled with the fans, teammates, and most often management, to varying degrees and levels of success. In some ways Allen was a maverick, in others, a victim of his circumstances, and still others, a sullen, discontented, but extremely talented ballplayer, who succeeded in burning bridges that quite possibly led to an early exit from the game and hindered his chances at election to the Hall of Fame. [End Page 252] That lack of an interview is the weak link in the book. All of the attempts by Nathanson to explain Dick Allen's behavior and thought process, to understand his actions and what motivated him, are only conjecture, because they rely on secondary sources, not on any first-person testimonials. To be sure, he does have quotes from Allen in the form of various interviews and his autobiography, but we never get concrete answers to the questions raised by Nathanson. The first and foremost of which is the overarching theme of the book: "Was Dick the cause of his problems or merely misunderstood? … Who was responsible for the tragedy that was Dick Allen?" (4). And yet, in the end that may not even matter. As Nathanson documents so well, Allen often contradicted himself. Sometimes he admitted to changing his answers intentionally. Sometimes they changed over time, and often they were never proffered at all. If you are interested in Dick Allen the ballplayer, and covet stories of his on-field exploits, complete with details of his heroics and a season-by-season overview of his career, you will need to look elsewhere. Little actual baseball action takes place in this book. Instead, each season is a backdrop providing another glimpse into the mind of Dick Allen. Each year gives us another example of how a baseball executive or fan base reacted to Allen, tried to tame him, explain him, and even love him, and how, one after the other, they failed, tired of him, and sent him packing. From Philadelphia to St. Louis, to Los Angeles, to Chicago, back to Philadelphia, and finally to a sad and relatively quiet end in Oakland. The lack of baseball action in a baseball biography is not an indictment of the quality of Nathanson's offering. Quite to the contrary, this is an excellent biography. And probably because it does not merely recite seasonal accomplishments and repeat box scores. Instead, Nathanson tries to understand the man who was the ballplayer. One criticism I will make is that an appendix with Allen's career statistics would have been nice. It would have saved me several trips to Baseball Reference.com. But the approach works. Baseball was Allen's vehicle, but the focus here is on the driver—Allen himself, who was much more than just a powerful and feared right-handed bat, a Rookie of the Year, a seven-time All-Star, and an MVP. And much more interesting. I must admit that early on I wondered what I was in for. Nathanson wonders, "why wasn't a black superstar such as Dick, as difficult as he could be at times, accorded the same deference by the working press and fan base as were the white superstars of his era" (4)? Really? This was 1960s America. That question will even seem ludicrous to some people if it were asked about the racial environment today, much...

Introduction

Introduction Kaveh Akbar I didn't want to write an intro to this memorial. I thought it important Franz's be the first voice a reader encountered. His five new poems included here are extraordinary—incantatory, magisterial, impossibly charming even in their desolation. The first time I read them I became predictably emotional—like countless others, I've desperately missed his voice. Huge chunks of his later books seem written explicitly to steel his beloveds in his absence, but in these new pieces his voice comes across the actual beyond to speak to us of stillness and solitude and wild strawberries and so much more. I'm getting goosebumps now just typing about them. I think Franz's work and everyone else's work here stands on its own, from his wife Elizabeth's wrenching recollections of their long marriage to David Young's stunningly earnest essay about his and Franz's extraordinary relationship to all the other poems and prose written about or for or to or through Franz by people who loved him or loved his work. So why then am I writing this? To say, briefly, that in the one month this memorial was open for submissions, I got hundreds upon hundreds of poems, essays, letters, and tributes sent to me to consider for the space. They came in from all over the world, from writers and non-writers alike. In almost every single submission I got, there was a story about a seminal interaction with Franz, virtual or in the real world. Dozens of people wrote to tell me about correspondences with Franz about poetry, about life, about addiction, about baseball. Even more wrote about quiet mentorships spanning months or years or decades, mentorships for which Franz never accepted a penny. The theme throughout all these correspondences was this—for all his well-documented struggles living the life of a semi-public intellectual while simultaneously battling serious mental and physical illnesses, Franz devoted an astonishingly large percentage of his psychic and temporal resources to nurturing and encouraging young poets. He may have earned some infamy for burning bridges in the academic and literary spheres, but he was constantly erecting new ones privately, quietly, out of the spotlight, with young and unestablished writers who had nothing to offer him but their poems and their sincere gratitude. It would be impossible for me to account for all these stories in this space, but it feels important to me that I at least make mention of their existence. The memorial aims to preserve the legacy of Franz's life in poetry, and it's become abundantly evident to me that a central part of that legacy is the substantial investment Franz made in the future of poetry. Any thorough consideration of his contribution to American letters must consider both his singular body of poetry and his lifelong practice of supporting poets. —Kaveh Akbar [End Page 155] Copyright © 2017 Pleiades and Pleiades Press