Publishing Ron Powell’s Essays?
Friends, I need some feedback from you.
I have been looking at Ron Powell’s collected essays and thinking, “There’s a book in here.”
(For those of you who don’t know, Ron passed away early in November. For those who did not know him, Ron was a mainstay on Open Salon and later took up residence at BindleSnitch where he was the most frequent contributor.)
Ron left a tremendous body of work behind. He also put a tremendous amount of time and effort into his writing. I don’t know where else he published it, but he made BindleSnitch his personal website by virtue of the number, length, and variety of subject matters he addressed. There were times when I was frankly annoyed with him about the sheer volume of his input…and that sheer volume is the problem anyone would face when attempting to curate his work as I am now thinking of doing, while wondering what to leave in, what to leave out.
Technically, of course, BindleSnitch has an absolute right to republish anything published on the site, but this is me and I would not do that without the approval of Ron’s heirs and assigns. By the same token, I would not want to make a profit off another man’s dreams,sso the net profits after expenses. should go wherever Ron’s heirs and assigns and if that turns out to be into their pockets, that will be okay with me.
The thing is that this will be a massive project and I will need help. How should it be organized? Chronologically or according to subject matter, or both. I can’t do this alone. Most of you knew Ron better than I did, especially since I have been a mostly absent landlord these past few years.
Eventually, sooner or later, Bindle is going to fold. Either I won’t be able to keep covering the costs or I will die and there will be no one else to take up the slack. (My son might be induced to maintain the site technically, but he’s not an editor of any kind, so he would ignore the content, just as he has all these years.)
So, what do you all think? Do we let Ron’s work evaporate into the background noise of the internet? Do we publish only the articles or do we include the comments (which would make it a very, very big book), and we do leave out some of Ron’s snippier snippets or include the warts with the flowers?
I’m not contemplating a physical book. I have Bob Dylan’s collected lyrics sitting on my TV table. It’s huge. The type face is tiny. It’s impossible o read because of the sheer size and weight of it (Think Guttenberg Bible, because I am sure that’s exactly what Bob was thinking about when he designed that book.)
No, I am only thinking about a Kindle Book, or a series of them.
I can’t do this alone. Any volunteers? Opinions? Advice?
Don’t be crickets.
11/26/2023 @ 5:29 pm
What specifically are we talking about? It’s a project I could probably help with but not take point on.
11/29/2023 @ 7:59 pm
Alan, one if Ron’s aspirations was to share his work and facilitate an educational transcript. Many of the works and comments that you all shared have pertinent information and are thought provoking. I did extend the contact info to Ron’s brother when you posted the announcement of Ron’s passing. If you would like I will reach out to Ron’s brother again and perhaps he would be interested in responding to the idea of publishing or at least retaining the wonderfulness of Ron in some format. Ron had a profound impact on matters of conflict, racial disparity and education. February being Black History Month was very important to Ron and if you manage to repost anything those writings would be significantly appreciated.
11/30/2023 @ 10:12 am
Good morning I am not at all familiar with the processes that you are working with. If it’s a resource perhaps the programs Ron worked with at Howard University, UCONN, UHART, Yale, Stockton University are an opportunity.
11/30/2023 @ 12:03 pm
Alan, a tender idea, one Ron would have loved. He definitely was the foundation of this site. I’m a lapsed old timer who checked in between longish gaps, expecting if the site disappeared, it would be because Ron stopped posting.
How much street value would his writing have? Maybe make some inquiries? His posts and comment streams feel like a small gathering of old familiars, enjoying conversations and heated arguments, hard to gauge the interest level outside of us chickens.
Wondering if Howard might be interested. University libraries employ a stable of people who transfer material to their digital archives, also the general academic digital libraries like JSTOR, don’t know how they decide what material to collect, but their collections are vast. It might be good to inform Howard alumnae association–alumnae publications typically run pieces on grads who pass. They’d prolly appreciate knowing about Ron if they don’t already.
An easier solution for Alan could be to pin one of Ron’s posts, maybe one that received lots of comments, there are plenty of those. I’m still in the Facebook Resistance, but heard there is a group there for former Open Saloners. If there is, maybe let them know. I’d guess some would want to check in and pay their respects.
11/30/2023 @ 12:31 pm
I’m also in the Facebook Resistance. I’ve never been a member.
11/30/2023 @ 1:39 pm
also a founding member…fb won’t let me view a page w/o that pop up window requiring you to open an account. Mâchez-moi (bite me!), the fb resistance greeting
Some of the os folks are on IG I could try dming them. Also, I’d guess Rose stays in touch better than I do.
It might be sweet to pin a post regardless, so we can stroll down memory lane if we want. I imagine Ron would like that.
11/30/2023 @ 12:57 pm
For awhile there, I WAS keeping Bindle open mostly for Ron but now that he has left the building, I find myself in the position of being the unappointed curator of his work. I can’t shut Bindle down now because that would be an insult to Ron’s memory. My son recently told me that he has a connection who can host WordPress sites for little or no money so that the site could go on in perpetuity…but that doesn’t do much to promote Ron. I am thinking that a selection of his very best posts, linked to other social media sites might bring some traffic.
11/30/2023 @ 1:40 pm
you are a good egg, Alan Milner
11/30/2023 @ 12:47 pm
Sounds optimistic.
Would there really be an audience?
11/30/2023 @ 12:57 pm
see my comment to Kosh, above.