The purpose of this catalog is to list and briefly describe the books, both in-print and out-of-print, Timberline Press produced from 1975-2010 and to trace how this very small operation developed in those thirty-five years.

Most of the books Timberline published during these years were handcrafted; the type was handset, the pages were hand-fed and the press hand-powered, and the books were hand-bound. Quite appropriate for an artifact, a piece of technology, we hold in our hands and manipulate by hand to enjoy. Even the books that relied on post-Gutenberg methods of production adhered to the principles of good craftsmanship. And the poets' attention to their craft is evident in each poem. What I wrote in the introduction to the catalog in 2000 still applies: "Timberline Press has been guided by a simple philosophy. First, select good writing to publish. Then, present the writing in a book that is well designed and printed. . . . However, since I believe poets need audiences, the book should be reasonably priced."

If all of that seems obvious, well, it is. But too often we forget or ignore the obvious.

I thank everyone who has ever purchased a Timberline book and everyone who has supported the press in numerous ways. You made the experience joyful.

Clarence Wolfshohl

Abbreviation Guide:

lp: letterpress
o: offset
x: xerox
2nd: 2nd printing
op: out of print

1975

On the Edge, Clarence Wolfshohl
19 pages: 18 poems/2 illustrations, 4.25 x 5.25/lp
Edition of 100 (op)

On the Edge was a learning project, Timberline's first publication. I began to learn how to do letterpress printing with the book, and it shows. I am embarrassed to think that I actually asked people to buy copies, if only at $1.50 apiece. Some people must have been kind, however, since out of the original 100 printed, I have only about five copies left after only 31 years. The type is 8 pt. Modern Roman, which taught me that it is easier to work with larger type but which was the only face of which I had enough to do a full page. The paper stock was whatever I could purchase at the local office supply store in Mason, Texas. The book was saddle stitched (stapled) at that same office supply store, which was the local newspaper office. So I thank the Mason County News of the mid-1970's for helping launch Timberline Press.

1976

Every Poem Had a Unicorn, Clarence Wolfshohl
21 pages: 18 poems/3 illustrations, 5.25 x 7.5/lp
Edition of 100 (op)

Every Poem Had a Unicorn continued my learning the craft of letterpress. The printing was better executed, and the project itself had more pretensions to being about printing as much as about the poetry. I even had an engraving company in San Antonio make a zinc-cut for the cover, a beautiful picture of a unicorn. I have only one copy left, so I flatter myself to think it pleased others. The type is 10 pt. Egyptian Bold, which went too far in providing the darker, heavier impression that I usually prefer. The paper is a light blue heather, and the cover is a textured white with dark blue inking. Again, I relied on the saddle-stitcher at the Mason County News office.

1977

Stickers, Bugs, and Jagged Rocks, Clarence Wolfshohl
25 pages: 19 poems/5 illustrations, 4.5 x 6/lp
Edition of 50 (op)

Stickers, Bugs, and Jagged Rocks ended the first stage of my letterpress apprenticeship. In these first years I had printed one chapbook a year, using my own poetry. I did not feel ready to attempt someone else's book, and I could devote only the summer months to printing because of full teaching and extracurricular duties at Mason High School. But I was growing more confident about my printing. This edition was small because I used the paper left from previous projects and I was saving money to buy better paper for the next project. Such was the very modest operation of Timberline Press in the early years. Well, truthfully, it is still modest. The type again is 10 pt. Egyptian Bold, and the book is saddle stitched, although this time with Timberline's own stapler.

1978

Deer Nests & Hawk Havens, Pete Zivkovic
34 pages: 26 poems/3 serigraph illustrations, 5.5 x 7/lp
200 copies (op)

In 1978, Timberline took a big step by publishing someone else's work. The first book was by an old West Virginia friend, Pete Zivkovic. The credits should have gone to Peter D. Zivkovic, but I set the title page with "Pete," which I always called him. I tried to make up for that informality years later when Timberline published Peter D. Zivkovic's Of Belly and Bone. The book was received well; I have only two copies in my archives. The type is 10 pt. Sans Medium, and the paper is a blue-grey kraft with a mustard yellow cover. Saddle-stitched.

Woman Chopping, Emily Borenstein
16 pages: 16 poems/1 illustration, 5.5 x 7/lp
200 copies (op)

In 1978, Timberline not only did the work of someone else, but published three books. Woman Chopping is a collection of prose poems by a writer who would later figure very important in Timberline activity. Emily Borenstein is a delight to work with on publishing projects, only one manifestation of which is sales. The book went out of print quickly. The type is 10 pt. Egyptian Bold, and the paper is a brown-gold kraft with light blue cover. The book is saddle-stitched.

Dream in Pienza and Other Poems: Selected Poems 1963-1977, Toni Ortner-Zimmerman
48 pages: 27 poems/1 illustration, 6 x 9/lp
200 copies

Toni Ortner-Zimmerman's selection of fourteen years of her poetry was the third publication by Timberline in 1978 -- a busy year. The two shorter books had emboldened me to try something larger. With its forty-eight pages, I didn't want to saddle stitch Dream, so I used what I call the National Geographic binding on it. The binding is still by staples, along the edge rather than saddle stitched; and the cover is then glued on. This allows for a spine, and Dream is the first Timberline book with a printed spine. The type is 10 pt. Modern Roman, and the paper is a pewter kraft with a red cover, which is designed like the covers of Deer Nests & Hawk Havens and Woman Chopping. The similarity in cover design of the books produced in 1978 reflects my intention at the time to create a unified look. I believe I had just read about Cobden-Sanderson's Doves Press and was toying with the idea of such homogeneity.

1979

I must have been exhausted from the three books printed in 1978 because I published nothing in 1979.

1980

Invincible Summer, Nadya Aisenberg
49 pages: 48 poems, 5.5 x 7/lp
200 copies (op)

These short poems fit the small format of the 5.5 x 7 book well. Nadya Aisenberg wanted a color photo for the cover, but since I was not equipped to print that, we had a commercial printer in Maine do the four-color process. The cover is striking, and the entire package of poems and printing is attractive. Although Invincible Summer is the only book by Aisenberg published by Timberline, we did work together later when Nadya had me print Green Mountain, Black Mountain by Anne Stevenson, which Nadya's Rowan Tree Press published in 1982. The type is 10 pt. Modern Roman, and the paper is a creamy textured paper of unknown manufacture.

1981

Night of the Broken Glass, Emily Borenstein
83 pages: 63 poems/4 illustrations, 6 x 9/lp
500 copies (op)

In 1981, Timberline Press moved from Mason, Texas, to Fulton, Missouri, where I joined the faculty of William Woods College (now University). Since the publication of Aisenberg's Invincible Summer, I had been printing Borenstein's collection of Holocaust poems, Night of the Broken Glass. I finished the printing in Texas, but did not complete the binding until we settled into our new house in Missouri. The book is a starkly brilliant work, as its subject often inspires. Night of the Broken Glass sold well, but more importantly it was a powerful statement. I spent many hours designing it. The process started in Texas where I was driving a schoolbus in the mornings, traveling about twenty miles from Mason before I picked up the first student. I had much time in those early morning drives through the Texas ranch country to run through designs in my head. The type is 12 pt. Modern Roman, and the paper is a khaki kraft with a red cover. We had 200 copies of the 500 hardbound by a company in Austin, Texas. Those covers are a deep maroon with gilt lettering. The stylized illustrations introduce each section of the text. Perhaps the best result of publishing this second book by Emily Borenstein and becoming a teacher at William Woods College was my being able to invite her to read at the college and, therefore, to meet her, the first of these new poets I met.

right now i feel like robert johnson, A. J. Wright
39 pages: 33 poems/1 zinc-cut illustration, 5.5 x 7/lp
200 copies

The first book completely printed in Timberline's new home in Missouri, this book is set in 10 pt. Sans Serif Medium and has a zinc-cut illustration, the original of which was done by the poet's wife, Dianne Vargo Wright. The engraving was done by Service Engravers of San Antonio, Texas. The paper is that same creamy textured paper used for Invincible Summer, and the white cover features a serigraph illustration after a Dianne Vargo Wright sketch. In 1981, with these two books, I shifted the colophon to the back of the book, making it a more pronounced statement of the book's design and creation.

1982

The Train, the Locust Tree and the Dark Country Beyond, Don Foster
44 pages: 35 poems, 5.5 x 7/lp
200 copies (op)

In 1982, Timberline published four books, this being the first in that year. Actually, this was in the works along with Wright's collection, and it has the same creamy textured paper, but the cover is Strathmore Grandee blue. The type is 10 pt. Modern Roman.

Waterfall, Virginia Brady Young
59 pages: 62 haiku, 5 x 8.75/lp
200 copies (op)

This was the first book of haiku Timberline ever printed. Since then I have published several others, but it was this one which demonstrated the design possibilities of haiku chapbooks. Young is a well-known haikuist and poet in general, and I thought her work called for a bit of experimentation. I used the concept of the title -- waterfall -- and placing one haiku per page, gradually cascaded them down the page so that each section has the visual and reading effect of going down a waterfall. The elongated shape echoes that effect. The type is 12 pt. Modern Roman, and the paper is Strathmore Grandee cream with blue sectional dividers. The cream cover has a linocut of a waterfall scene.

Timber, 1st Addition, Robert A. Davis
12 pages: 11 poems/1 illustration, 6 x 9/lp
200 copies (op)

This small collection by an editor of Mr. Cogito Press captures the feel of the Northwest, which I tried to graphically reproduce with a pewter kraft paper and a moss or mistletoe green cover. The one small serigraph is of a stylized mountain forest scene. The cover features the first halftone I had ever printed -- a winter landscape. Once again Service Engravers of San Antonio, Texas, made the cut. The type is 12 pt. Modern Roman. I bound this book of one signature by sewing it and then gluing the cover, with a spine. This was the first thread stitched binding I did.

The Train in the Rain, Rochelle Dubois
62 pages: 45 poems, 6 x 9/lp
200 copies (op)

This is the first of three books I have published by this poet. The other two are under the name Rochelle Lynn (or L.) Holt. Rochelle is a fixture of the small press world, being poet, novelist, critic, publisher-editor, and at one time letterpress printer herself. The type is 10 pt. Modern Roman, and the paper is pewter kraft with the same moss green cover as on Timber, 1st Addition.

1983

Skyward, JoAnn Lindemann
24 pages: 22 poems, 5.5 x 7/lp
100 copies (op)

This little book has a special place in Timberline history. JoAnn was a student of mine in Mason, Texas. In fact, she was one of the passengers on my schoolbus when I drove the twenty miles out to Fly Gap every morning and designed books in my head. She graduated high school and worked on her father's ranch before we moved from Mason. A short while after she graduated, she began sending me poems and stories to comment on by way of her nieces whose father worked on another ranch on the same bus route. She grew as a writer in those few years, and shortly after Timberline came to Missouri, I thought it was time to break JoAnn into print. Since then, she has won several regional awards and has had at least one other chapbook published. All along, she has worked the ranch, a true example of Texas womanhood. The type is 10 pt. Sans Serif Medium, and the paper is Kilmory India with a yellow cover with a serigraphed mountain landscape.

My Son and I, Alan Catlin
29 pages: 29 poems, 6 x 9/lp
200 copies

Alan's book is a touching exploration of the relationship between father and son. I received the manuscript for it and for Marciia Muldoon's Delicate Torture (below) at about the same time and saw them as Timberline's yin and yang for 1983. So I worked on them simultaneously and brought them out together. My Son and I has 12 pt. Modern Roman type and Strathmore Grandee sand-colored paper with a blue endpaper, the first time I used a different colored endpaper in the design. The cover is white with a full page photo, which I had to get a local commercial printer to print for me because I could not get enough impression for the halftone on my 6 x 10 Kelsey. The halftone was made by Graphic Engraving of Columbia, Missouri.

Delicate Tortures, Marciia Muldoon
45 pages: 29 poems, 6 x 9/lp
200 copies

Whereas Catlin's My Son and I viewed life through the masculine bond of father and son, Muldoon presents the vision of coming of age and negotiating the world as a woman. Perhaps an extra twist is that Muldoon is from California, which is the setting for these poems. The type is 10 pt. Modern Roman, and the paper is Strathmore Grandee sand-colored paper with a cranberry cover.

1984

When All Else Failed, Michael Burns
29 pages: 25 poems, 6 x 9/lp
200 copies

Michael Burns has established himself as a Missouri poet, but he was just beginning his career as poet and as teacher at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield when he sent the manuscript of this collection. So I like to think of Timberline as being a help in his career and as being pretty perceptive in judging his work. I think it was his allusion to Jimmie Rodgers, the Singing Brakeman, in one of his poems that won me over. The text is 12 pt. Modern Roman, and the paper is Strathmore Grandee cream with a khaki kraft endpaper and a Grandee blue cover.
1985

Center of the Spiral, Gary Metras
30 pages: 26 poems, 5.5 x 8.5/lp
200 copies (op)

Gary Metras, who operates Adastra Press in Massachusetts, is a master poet and letterpress printer. He makes very beautiful books, so I was a bit apprehensive when I agreed to do a collection of his poetry. The design is simple; 12 pt. Modern Roman type on white paper with a white cover and a gray endpaper. The cover has a linocut illustration of a stylized sun.

1986

Prescription for Psyche, Rochelle Lynn Holt
46 pages: 38 poems, 5.5 x 8.5/lp
200 copies (op)

This was the second book by Rochelle that Timberline Press published, and it was on the occasion of its publication that I was able to invite her to read at William Woods. The type is 10 pt. Modern Roman, and the paper is a creamy textured paper with gray granite endpaper and mustard yellow cover.

Looking Up from the Bottom of the World, Conger Beasley, Jr.
29 pages: 21 poems, 5.5 x 8.5/lp
200 copies

I met Conger (Tony) Beasley when he accompanied Barry Lopez to William Woods from Kansas City, where Conger was headquartered. Lopez was part of the college's concert-lecture series in 1984, and I enjoyed meeting the author I had followed ever since reading Of Wolves and Men. The bonus was meeting Conger, who later sent this manuscript of poetry about the Southwest. The type is 10 pt. Sans Serif Medium, and the paper is the creamy textured paper with red endpaper and white cover with a stylized Southwest motif linocut.

Poems Taken from My Yard, Jimmy Santiago Baca
16 pages: 17 poems, 6 x 9/lp
200 copies (op)

While I was printing Beasley's book, I received two manuscripts from Jimmy Santiago Baca, whom I had not heard of at the time. But the poems had a strong sense of place -- again the Southwest. Jimmy is from Albuquerque, where I spent three years at the University of New Mexico, so we had some common reference points. From his letters, I got the impression that he was struggling for his art, but shortly after the book came out, Jimmy received an NEA grant and was on his way to good things and bigger publishers. Some of the poems in this chapbook are in his later collection, Black Mesa Poems from New Directions. The type is 12 pt. Modern Roman, and the paper is a sandy colored Strathmore Grandee with orange Grandee endpaper and gray Grandee cover with a serigraph of a mountain wrapped around front and back. The binding is handstitched. I still have the second manuscript to turn into a chapbook some day.

1987

The Death Mazurka, Charles Fishman
61 pages: 30 poems/7 illustrations, 6 x 9/lp
500 copies (op)

The Death Mazurka is a collection of Holocaust poems, so with the experience of Emily Borenstein's Night of the Broken Glass, I printed 500 copies. I was helped with the expenses by a grant from the Faculty Research and Creative Development Fund of William Woods. The book did excellently, being chosen an academic book of the year by Choice, the review venue of the American Library Association. When it went out of print, we gave the printing rights to Texas Tech Press, where Charles Fishman also published an anthology of Holocaust material. Texas Tech printed both a softcover and hardcover version, using the Timberline book as copy to make an offset edition. It is still available from Texas Tech Press. The Timberline edition is printed in 12 pt. Garamond Old Style, which type I bought with money from the college's grant. As the rest of this history will show, this typeface has become my standard type. The paper is Warren Olde Style with a black Strathmore Grandee endpaper and a dark gray Grandee cover. The seven illustrations which I created for the title page and the sectional dividers were made into zinc-cuts by Graphic Engraving of Columbia, Missouri. Charles came from New York to mark the publication with a reading. The Death Mazurka was the first Timberline book to have an ISBN number (0-944048-00-5).

1988

The Tick, Clarence Wolfshohl
12 pages/Cedar Tick Natural History Series #1, 3.5 x 5/lp
55copies(op)

In 1988, I took a break after the big project of The Death Mazurka and launched the Cedar Tick Natural History Series. These are essays on natural history made into small booklets, all about the same dimensions as this first one. This first one was an essay I wrote after suffering a particularly bothersome tick season. The essay is a natural history of the tick, and at first I envisioned the series as covering the range of pesty insects, but the scope has broadened over the years. The type is 8 pt. Modern Roman, and the paper is Kilmory India with an orange endpaper and gray cover. The book is handstitched, and it has a printed spine.

Mythus Antiquus, Clarence Wolfshohl
16 pages: 10 poems/4 illustrations, 7 x 8/lp 60 copies (op)

This is a collection of somewhat metaphysical poems that modernize the ancient myths. The illustrations were experiments in monoprints using the press ink plate and a brayer. The type is 12 pt. Modern Roman, and the paper and wrapper are the same as in The Tick.

1989

I took a break and published nothing. However, this year my family did go to England, where I got to print on the Albion Press that William Morris used at Kelmscott. Undoubtedly, it was one of the most exciting moments of my printing career. That one afternoon I set type and printed an illustration from Morris's The Glittering Plain planted an idea that was to mature in 1996, but I'll wait for the right chronological spot to tell that story.

1990

Yet Other Waters, Walter Bargen
39 pages: 18 poems, 6 x 9/lp>x
200 copies (op)

I met Walter Bargen shortly after moving to Missouri, but it took me until 1990 to publish one of his books. I don't know why. Yet Other Waters was the first installment of a trilogy, which Timberline has published (see The Vertical River and Water Breathing Air below). And as I type this in late 2000, I look forward to bringing out a fourth book in 2001. Walter had grown steadily as a poet in this decade, and Timberline has enjoyed being a part of his development along with many literary journals and the University of Missouri at Kansas City's BkMk Press, which has published several of his collections. The type is 12 pt. Garamond Old Style, and the paper is Warren Olde Style with Strathmore Grandee blue cover and a light blue endpaper. The reprint of 100 copies was 5.5 x 8.5 on Wausau Royal Linen with blue endpaper and cover.

Dragonfly, Conger Beasley, Jr.
17 pages/Cedar Tick Natural History Series #2, 3.5 x 5/lp 200 copies

When I told Tony Beasley what I envisioned for the Cedar Tick series, he responded with this essay on the natural history of the dragonfly, a delightful booklet. The type is 10 pt. Garamond Old Style, and the paper is Kilmory India with a green endpaper and light blue cover.

1991

Monsoon, William Hart
35 pages: 61 haiku/4 illustrations, 5.5 x 8.5/lp
350 copies

Timberline started another close association in 1991, with the publication of William Hart's Monsoon, the first of four collections of haiku by Bill. Jayasri Majumdar, Hart's wife, is an artist and film-maker, and her accompanying illustrations for all three of the books have made them unique volumes. The type is 12 pt. Garamond Old Style, and the paper is Earth Care Cadence Linen with blue sectional separators and endpaper and cream linen cover. The zinc-cuts of the 4 illustrations by Jayasri were made by Graphic Engraving of Columbia, Missouri.

1992

I published nothing in 1992 although I was printing on a project which came out in 1993. I rely on spare time in the summer to do much of the printing, but this summer I spent eight weeks at the University of Florida participating in an NEH summer seminar on the Picturesque. It was an idyllic period of doing what most people would term useless literary research. My special interest was in Gilbert White, the pioneer eighteenth-century natural historian, and I used a first edition of his 1789 book that had been owned by Marjorie Rawlings, who spent most of her writing life near Gainesville. Also, through a complicated process I had been invited to Russia, so I spent two weeks in August in Moscow and Petersburg.

1993

Pigeons in the Chandeliers, Judy Ray
75 pages: 36 poems/3 illustrations, 5.25 x 8.25lp
300 copies

As a member of the William Woods College Concert-Lecture committee, I invited David Ray to read at the college. He agreed if his wife, Judy Ray, could read. William Woods is never one to pass up a two for one bargain, so we invited David and Judy. I remember the reading for two striking events. One was the stunned but joyful reaction of one student who said that she had never been to a reading and was completely overwhelmed by the poetry. The other was Judy's reading of her WWII doodlebug poem. Judy was director of the Writer's Place, a gathering place for writers in Kansas City, during this time, and she invited me to demonstrate letterpress printing there during their annual Festival of the Book. I did so for several years in a row. The type is 12 pt. Garamond Old Style, and the paper is Earth Care Vellum with mauve endpaper and cover. I designed and executed the linocut illustrations that mark each section.

1994

This was another year with no publication although, again, I was printing on projects that would appear in 1995. For a number of summers I taught printing at the Bethel Community Arts and Crafts School up in Bethel, Missouri. Bethel is an old German community in northeastern Missouri. It has a fascinating history, not the least of which is its endeavor in the late 1980s and early 1990s to establish a summer arts and crafts school. Teachers and students, who had to travel to participate, were lodged in the bed and breakfast above the one cafe and gathering place in the village of approximately 150 people. Classes lasted all day for a week, so my students could master the basics and turn out a souvenir booklet during that week. This was the last year I taught in Bethel.

1995

Blowing Reeds, Wally Swist
28 pages: 80 haiku, 5.5 x 8.5/lp>x
200 copies (op)

After the generous reviews of Hart's Monsoon, Timberline Press received a number of submissions of haiku manuscripts. Swist's was the one that stood out, and it was a pleasure collaborating on the book with Wally. The initial run of 200 sold out in a short while, so I did an electronic reprint using the original as copy-ready masters. I have done that with other books since then -- something of an on-demand form of publication. The type is 12 pt. Garamond Old Style, and the paper is Earth Care Crestline vellum with a brown endpaper and a Strathmore Grandee teal cover.

Wild Lilies, Walt McLaughlin
17 pages: Cedar Tick Natural History #3, 3.75 x 5.5/lp
200 copies (op)

This celebration of the blooming of lilies in New England spring introduced me to Walt McLaughlin, who publishes Wood Thrush Books and operates an environmental writing book catalog store in Vermont. He has been one of the big promoters of the Cedar Tick series by writing two (Wild Lilies and Natural Causes) and featuring the series in his catalog. The type is 10 pt. Garamond Old Style, and the paper is Hammermill Accent Opaque Vellum with a mauve cover and gray endpaper. The booklet features an illustration of day lilies by Joan Hyme, the zinc-cut of which was manufactured by Graphic Engraving of Columbia, Missouri.

1996

1996 was the centennial year of the death of William Morris, and the idea conceived in 1989 as I mucked about the basement print area of Kelmscott House in Hammersmith, London, came to fulfillment. I wanted to be part of the Centenary Celebration, so I asked the William Morris Society if I could spend a month printing there. The Society agreed -- they were happy to get someone to straighten the disarray the printing area had fallen into, and William Woods gave me a Research and Creative Development grant to produce a chapbook of three of Morris poems accompanied by linocut illustrations. My wife and I spent a month in England, but were able to work at Kelmscott House only twice a week, and the first half of that time was devoted to organizing and cleaning; I believe no one had bothered with the area since I spent that one afternoon there in June of 1989. Also, two of the days I had scheduled to work at Kelmscott House, I was unable to get there because of wildcat underground strikes. The chapbook was reduced to a broadside of Morris's "Two Red Roses Across the Moon," but I still intended to do the chapbook, just not on Morris's Albion Press.

The Vertical River, Walter Bargen
45 pages: 27 poems, 6 x 9/lp>x
200 copies (op)

This is the second volume in Walter's water trilogy and demonstrates a growing confidence in his poetic voice. The type is 12 pt. Garamond Old Style, and the paper is Hammermill Accent Opaque Vellum with gray endpaper and Strathmore Rhododendron blue cover. Both Yet Other Waters and The Vertical River sold out of the original letterpress editions, but Walter kept getting requests for them at the many readings he gives across the state. So, I produced electronic reprints in a slightly smaller size (both 5.5 x 8.5). I had difficulty getting the 6 x 9 format on the small paper, so I reset the whole book by computer and produced the smaller book. The reprint is on Wausau Royal Linen with blue endpaper and cover.

Paris, William Hart
30 pages: 41 haiku/4 illustrations, 5.5 x 8.25/lp
200 copies

This is the second William Hart haiku, Jayasri Majumdar illustration collaboration from Timberline Press. As Monsoon took the reader on a tour of the Asian subcontinent, Paris takes us on an unusual sightseeing tour of the City of Lights. The type is 12 pt. Garamond Old Style, and the paper is Hammermill Linen with red endpaper and a heather gray cover. The zinc-cuts of the illustrations are by Graphic Engraving of Columbia, Missouri.

1997

Of Belly and Bone, Peter D. Zivkovic
68 pages: 38 poems, 5.25 x 8.25/x
100 copies

Nineteen years after publishing his Deer Nests & Hawk Havens, the first Timberline publication of an author besides me, Timberline produced another first with Pete's Of Belly and Bone. It was the first book I did on the computer from scratch. The computer typesetting is of 11 pt. Centurion Old, and the printing was done on a Xerox copier. The paper is Wausau Royal Linen with red endpaper and blue cover.

The Singing Groves, Walt Franklin
20 pages/Cedar Tick Natural History #4, 3.5 x 5.5/lp
200 copies

Also in 1997, Timberline stuck with its trusty letterpress and published Franklin's poignant essay about the environmental changes in his section of New York state. The type is 10 pt. Modern Roman, and the paper is Hammermill Vellum with green endpaper and Strathmore Grandee blue cover. An illustration by Penny Ferguson was made into a zinc-cut by Graphic Engraving of Columbia, Missouri.
1998

3 Poems by William Morris, William Morris
19 pages: 3 poems/3 illustrations, 6 x 9/lp
25 copies

I had several ongoing projects during 1998 that would not be completed until the latter part of 1999, so I dovetailed this project which I had wanted to do in 1996 into the mix. The book is beautiful, if I do say so myself. The type is 12 pt. Garamond Old Style, and the paper is Strathmore Grandee white (purchased on Leathermarket Street in London). The endpaper is a red French marbled paper, and the cover is a creamy Fabriano heavy cover. Each of the three poems -- "The Blue Closet," "The Tune of the Seven Towers," and "Two Red Roses Across the Moon" -- is illustrated by an original linocut.

1999

Water Breathing Air, Walter Bargen
51 pages: 23 poems, 5.5 x 8.5/
x200 copies (op)

This is the final volume in Walter's trilogy (Yet Other Waters and The Vertical River are the earlier volumes). Since I was working on several letterpress projects, I resorted to the computer again and set this in 12 pt. Casque using WordPerfect 8. The paper is Wausau Royal Linen with a cypress endpaper and cover.

The Red Lights of Hell, Florence Phyfer Krause
29 pages: 4 stories, 5.5 x 8.5/x
100 copies (op)

After nearly twenty-five years of publishing only poetry with the exception of the Cedar Tick series, Timberline Press succumbed to the call of prose fiction and published this collection of stories by Florence Krause. Florence was responsible for our move to Missouri because she was the chair of the English Department who offered me the position. Besides being my chair for most of the time I have been at William Woods, she and her husband Irl have become close friends. These stories based on her childhood experiences in Mississippi are delightful reading, but even better is hearing her read them. Again, I used the computer to set the 12 pt. Garamond type with WordPerfect 8. The paper is Wausau Royal Linen with red endpaper and bright yellow cover with a linocut illustration a la Dante. This edition sold out pretty quickly with students and alums eager to read it. Therefore, in 2000, we did a second edition with two more stories (see below).

Ozark Meandering, James Bogan
100 pages: mixed poetry and prose/highlight graphics, 6 x 9/lp> o
400 copies (2nd)

So far, this is Timberline's magnum opus, the most ambitious book I have done. I met Jim initially in St. Joseph, Missouri, at a Missouri Philological Association conference. He read a paper about Thomas Hart Benton, one of his favorite subjects. I remember chatting, but having to leave early because it was beginning to snow and my daughter and I wanted to return to Fulton before the storm really hit (We barely outran it). That was sometime in the mid-80s. I can't remember how Jim and I met again, but in the early 1990s I invited him to read and show his Thomas Hart Benton film at William Woods. That is when our collaboration began, and it spanned the decade. We conferred, we experimented, we sweated over the press together sometimes from the distance of Rolla to Fulton, sometimes from as far as Argentina to Fulton, and sometimes in the same room -- all the time enjoying one of the richest experiences of my printing life if not the whole shebang. Thirty years of Jim's meandering about the Ozarks around Rolla, Missouri, are compressed into the 100 pages of Ozark Meandering. The book was officially launched on September 9, 1999 (9/9/99), Jim's birthday, with a party/reading/print demonstration at the Coffee Grind in Rolla. A few months later, after the turn of the year, we repeated the reading/demonstration at Duff's in St. Louis as part of the River Styx Poetry Series. The book has done tremendously well, and we undoubtedly will reprint it soon. The type is 12 pt. Garamond Old Style, and the paper is Hammermill Opaque Vellum with a neutral endpaper and a Strathmore Grandee cobalt blue cover. The cover features a full wrap-around illustration of an Ozark scene printed from a walnut woodblock carved by Ray Morgan. The book is five signatures, which were handsewn. Most of the book was printed on my old 6 x 10 Kelsey, but in 1998, I bought a 6 x 10 1/2 Chandler and Price (C & P), which gives me much more impression and which I used for about one quarter of Ozark Meandering. It has become nearly my exclusive press now. Second printing by offset using original for photocopy.

Death of a Sunflower, Dan Stryk
75 pages: 45 poems/ 5 illustrations, 5.25 x 8.25/lp
200 copies

This is another large book I was working on for several years, but not as long as Ozark Meandering. The sunflower motif -- imagery, metaphor, theme -- of the poems is captured in the illustration -- line drawings by Suzanne Stryk, the poet's wife. The poetry and illustrations are impressive, and I hope the design and execution match that quality. The type is 12 pt. Garamond Old Style, and the paper is Wausau Royal Linen with a sandy endpaper and creamy yellow cover.

flurries, LeRoy Gorman
13 pages: 41 haiku, 4.25 x 5.75/lp
150 copies

When I received this manuscript from LeRoy Gorman, the title and the playful experiments with concrete form appealed to me and seem to give me leeway in designing this little book. So I dusted off all my type and composed the book in a variety -- a flurry, if I may -- of typefaces. Roman faces jostle italics, which stand beside gothic and Bodoni. I thought this would make an excellent stocking stuffer for Christmas, and it did ring out the year in 1999. There are nine typefaces used on Hammermill Vellum with red endpaper and gray cover.

2000

Kaleidoscope of Dance, Rochelle L. Holt
14 pages: 12 poems, 5.5 x 8.5/lp
200 copies

What started with The Train in the Rain in 1982 had its latest installment in 2000 with Holt's Kaleidoscope of Dance, a chapbook built around the concept of dance in her life. The type is 12 pt. Modern Roman, and the paper is Wausau Royal Linen with a cypress endpaper and forest green Fabriano Ingres Cover.

The Red Lights of Hell, 2nd Edition, Florence Phyfer Krause
45 pages: 6 stories, 5.5 x 8.5/x
100 copies (op)

We just added the two stories, another signature, using the same typeface, paper, and cover.

Wildcat Road, William Hart
34 pages: 39 haiku/4 illustrations, 5.5 x 8.25/lp
200 copies

This is the third book by the William Hart-Jayasri Majumdar team that Timberline Press has published. In it, Bill's haiku come back to America and a family reunion. The type is 14 pt. Garamond Old Style (easier on the eyes), and the paper is Wausau Royal Linen with Neenah Environment Desert Storm endpaper and cover. The cover features a halftone of Bill besides the street sign of Wildcat Road. The halftone and the zinc-cuts for Jayasri's illustrations are again by Graphic Engraving of Columbia, Missouri.

The White Rose, Wally Swist
40 pages: 122 haiku, 5.5 x 8.25/lp
300 copies

This second collection of haiku by Wally Swist published by Timberline Press demonstrates why Swist is ranked among the masters of the form in the United States. The type is 12 pt. Garamond Old Style, and the paper is Wausau Royal Linen with red endpaper and red Fabriano Ingres cover.

Natural Causes, Walt McLaughlin
11 pages/Cedar Tick Natural History Series #5, 3.5 x 5/lp
200 copies

The last complete book off the press in 2000 was Walt McLaughlin's Natural Causes, an essay that I suggested Walt write after he mentioned in a letter that he had seen a kingfisher die of natural causes on one of his hikes. The type is 10 pt. Garamond Old Style, and the paper is Earth Care Vellum with red endpaper and a red Fabriano Ingres cover. Again, Joan Hyme provided a striking illustration for the frontispiece, and Graphic Engraving of Columbia, Missouri, did the zinc-cut.

2001

The Lighthouse Keeper, Larry D. Thomas
34 pages: 30 poems/3 illustrations 5.5 x 8.5/lp>x
200 copies(op)

I met Larry Thomas at the Angelo State University Writers Conference in Honor of Elmer Kelton in San Angelo, Texas,a couple of years ago. It was my first time to attend, but I have made every one of the conferences since then because of the great people like Larry. You may imagine what results by getting about twenty-five or thirty writing Texans together in one spot -- Texans eat and breathe stories, and these are Texans who write them. Larry's poetry captures the telling moments or details of the stories going on around us continuously. We launched The Lighthouse Keeper at this year's conference in February. His poems about the denizens both above and below the waters of Galveston may be the first collection to draw its images from that city and coastline. The linocut illustrations that act as sectional dividers and the silkscreened cover are by me, and the text is set in 12 pt. Garamond Old Style. The paper is Wausau Royal Linen with Fabriano Ingres blue endpaper and gray cover. The original letterpress edition was gone before the end of summer, and the reprint went fast.

Harmonic Balance, Walter Bargen
59 pages: 34 poems/3 illustrations, 5.5 x 8.5/x 200 copies (op)

This is the fourth book by Walter Bargen that Timberline has published. Walter keeps growing as a poet, so it is not only pleasurable but energizing to work with him and his poetry. In this collection he escorts us into the town limits of Harmony, a place of imaginative depth. As Debra Di Blasi said of the collection, "Harmony is a place I'll return to again and again." We recruited illustrator Mike Sleadd for the slightly askew illustrations which perfectly fit Walter's point of view in his poetry. Mike did three pictures to accompany the text and the cover illustration. The book was typeset in 11 pt. Classic Garamond, using Corel WordPerfect 8, and printed electronically on Wausau Royal Linen text with a burnt orange endpaper and white cover.

From a Collector's Garden, Emily Borenstein
16 pages: 1 poem/1 illustration, 5.5 x 7/lp
200 copies (op)

In the tradition of Andrew Marvell's garden and mower poems or Wordsworth's tributes to his garden, Emily Borenstein takes us on a tour of her imaginative garden full of color, fragrance, and the pulse of vegetable life. This unassuming yet delightful piece is the third work by Emily that Timberline Press has printed, but it has been twenty years since we published her starkly riveting Night of the Broken Glass, a collection of Holocaust poems that was Timberline's first best seller (see 1981 section). This new publication is set in 12 pt. Garamond Old Style and printed on Wausau Royal Linen. The cover is green with a plum endpaper. The chapbook features a hand-etched and printed centerfold illustration the size of the opened book (7 x 11).

Annuli, William Heyen
19 pages: 1 poem of 19 sections/1 illustration, 7 x 8.5/lp
300 copies

The title refers to the swirls on a turtle shell that marks the animal's age, and turtles provide the controlling images and metaphors of this chapbook. Heyen, whose ecologically sensitive poetry has already made its mark in contemporary poetry, presents us a double aesthetic experience -- one of his poetry's sharpness and power and one of viewing the turtle's beauty. Even the poem's rhythm is of the turtle's domain. The book is set in 10 pt. Garamond Old Style and printed on Wausau Royal Linen with ivory Fabriano Ingres cover and tobacco brown end-paper.

Trance Arrows/Flechas de Transe, Jim Bogan
33 pages: 12 poems with translations, 4.25 x 9/lp
300 copies (op)

In quite a change of pace from Ozark Meandering, the previous work by Jim Bogan published by Timberline, this chapbook features twelve minimalist poems that are accompanied by their translations into Portuguese. Jim has traveled to Brazil during filming of several of his beautiful lyrical films and has come to love the language. So he asked Walkyria Magno E. Silva of Belem in Brazil to render them in Portuguese. The result is Timberline's first bilingual publication. In a further spirit of internationalism, the cover was designed by Edwina Sandys, the British artist whose sculpture Breakthrough made from fragments of the Berlin Wall stands outside the Winston Churchill Memorial on the Westminster College campus here in Fulton, Missouri. The book is set in 12 pt. Garamond Old Style and printed on Wausau Royal Linen with a burgundy linen cover and cinnamon endpaper.

2002

Time Travel Reports, Charles Fishman
27 pages: 10 poems, 5.5 x 8.5/o
300 copies

Charles Fishman's The Death Mazurka (1987) had been one of Timberline Press's most successful publications, and his chapbook of quirky looks at the contemporary scene reflects the same keen observation and fearless treatment of Fishman's bigger book. However, the project was beset with technical production problems. I started printing a book that was to be 6 x 9 letterpress, but about halfway through the printing, my press broke. When I finally found a local welder who would attempt the repair of the cast iron part, he was in the middle of a big job that occupied him for several weeks. Since Charles wanted the book out by October, I decided to abandon the letterpress version, to compose the layout on the computer and to let a local printshop do an offset edition. That led to even more problems, but we did finally finish the production by October. The paper is Wausau Royal Linen, with a Canson Mi-Tientes burgundy endpaper. The cover features a striking photograph by Reva Sharon. The type is 10 pt. Gill Sans. One last point: the sales of Time Travel Reports illustrates one of my basic publication tenets that reviews do not translate into sales. This little chapbook has probably been reviewed more than any other Timberline book, and all favorably; however, it has not sold well.

2003

Tracks, Gerald Wheeler
51 pages: 48 poems, 5.5 x 8.5/lp
200 copies

Gerald Wheeler is one of the San Angelo writers conference connections. Going by the e-mail name of the Katy poet because he lives in Katy, outside of Houston, he actually hails from Ohio. Tracks is an exploration of his sometimes troubled childhood in Columbus, where he was raised by grandparents and aunts, The book is like The Prelude if Wordsworth would have been born in Ohio in the 1940s. Tracks was in production when the press broke, but Gerald was not in a hurry -- well, only a little hurry -- for publication, so it was completed by letterpress after the press was repaired and after the turn of the year. The paper is Wausau Royal Linen with a Royal Fiber blueberry endpaper. The cover photograph of train tracks is by Gerald, who has published many of his photographs as well as poetry.

The Body of Water, Walter Bargen
122 pages: 63 poems/3 illustrations, 5.5 x 9/o
400 copies

This book collects Walter's water trilogy -- Yet Other Waters (1990), The Vertical River (1996), and Water Breathing Air (1999) -- into one volume. The three individual books were all published by Timberline, and Walter got Mike Sleadd, a fascinating illustrator from Columbia, Missouri, to create pen and ink drawings for the sectional title pages. The first two of the trilogy were done by letterpress originally, but we decided to do the book by offset. Therefore, the books was set in 11 pt. Book Antiqua using Corel WordPerfect 8. Fulton Graphics printed, and I handstitched and bound the books.

Annus Mirabilis: A Peripatetic Calendar, Stanley Noyes
37 pages: 109 tercets/5 illustrations, 5.5 x 8.5/lp
200 copies

In 2001, I had a heart attack, which thanks to modern medical techniques -- stentosis, for example -- was handled very effectively. However, I did reconsider priorities and activities, which included printing. At the time, several manuscripts under consideration sat on my desk, I wanted to publish some of them, but I did not want to commit myself or have poets commit themselves to projects that may be unfulfilled. So I asked the writers for more time to come to a decision; all of them were gracious in accepting the delay. One of them was Stanley Noyes of Santa Fe, whose haiku-like tercets capture a Southwestern spirit that appeals very strongly to me. Besides poetry, Stanley has written fiction and nonfiction, and his history of the Comanches (Los Comanches, the Horse People, 1751-1845, UNM Press) is fascinating. Annus Mirabilis is letterpress printed on Wausau Royal Linen with a plum Royal Fiber endpaper and a Fabriano Ingres tobacco cover. The type is 12 pt. Garamond, and the five illustrations are original woodcuts that I created.

Willing to Believe, Joe Benevento
37 pages: 30 poems, 5.5 x 8.5/lp
225 copies

Joe Benevento, a professor at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, was another of the patient souls whose manuscripts lay on my desk as I considered the future of Timberline Press. I guess I gave him the impression that I was going to discontinue printing entirely because in an article Joe wrote for Poets & Writers in September 2003, he stated that Willing to Believe was one of the last publications from Timberline Press. I had to assure a number of poets found in these pages that the press was to continue but at a slower pace. But Joe's Willing to Believe was one of the manuscripts I wanted to publish for its directness and celebration of the commonplace. The paper is Wausau Royal Linen with a mellow yellow endpaper. The type is 10 pt. Garamond. While setting the poem "Recycling," in which the speaker's daughter uses the back of rejected manuscripts to draw and color her own creations, I hit upon the idea for the cover -- one of Joe's daughter Maria's pictures of a butterfly. The silkscreened version lacks the childlike soul of the original, but the butterfly smiles colorfully.

The House of Four Quarters, Clarence Wolfshohl
132 pages: mixed genres, 5.5 x 8.5/x
100 copies

Two reasons converged in some dark wood and produced this collection. One reason is that I believe good writing of any genre comes from the same source and depends on similar elemental techniques. Illustrations do the same thing. So I collected four samples of the different genres I have written and illustrations, hammered and nailed them together into a dwelling of the mind, added porches fore and aft, and this book is the result. The other reason was to have something of my own to peddle. The book was composed in 11 pt. Book Antiqua using Corel WordPerfect 10 and printed by xerox. The paper is Wausau Royal Linen (I really like this paper) with a gray linen endpaper. The cover is Canson Mi-Tientes twilight (grayish purple) with a wraparound silkscreened illustration of my impression of Fairmont, West Virginia, where I bought my first printing apparatus, an old A. B. Dick 90 mimeograph that we used to print an "underground" paper in the late 60s-early 70s. Remember the underground press?

2004

One Thousand Years: Poems About the Holocaust, David Ray
121 pages: 63 pages, 6 x 9/o
print on demand

Projects grow. I was going to print a chapbook by David Ray entitled Under Sentence of Death, which is now a twenty page sequence in One Thousand Years. David had been waiting for some time for another publisher to bring out One Thousand Years, but snag led to snag on that project. So David investigated printing the book on his own, found a POD firm that was reasonable and did quality work but would not print self-published works. He therefore asked if Timberline Press would want to do the project. I put my plans for Under Sentence of Death aside and offered my support. Judy Ray, whose Pigeons in the Chandeliers Timberline had done back in 1993, did all the designing and composing, and we published One Thousand Years at the New Year 2004. Although I feel little connection with the actual production process, which is a prime reason for Timberline Press, the poetry is too important to languish in some publishing indecision limbo. Lightning Source -- the POD company -- produces a quality tradebook.

On Cat Time, William Hart
30 pages: 39 haiku/5 illustrations, 5.25 x 4.75/lp
200 copies

William Hart and his wife/illustrator Jayasri Majumdar have been part of the Timberline family for nearly fifteen years, and On Cat Time is the fourth book from this team. They are also very patient because the book was originally scheduled to be printed in 2001, but was delayed by my heart attack and by the couple's willingness to let me catch up with other projects. The wait was worth it for the reader because Bill returns with his insightful haiku and Jayasri with her whimsical illustrations, all around the theme of that royalty of pets, the cat. The paper is Wausau Royal Linen with Royal Fiber spice endpaper. The text is 12 pt. Garamond Old Style.

St. Lou Haiku, Mary Elizabeth Ladd and Julie Wiskirchen
29 pages: 107 haiku/4 illustrations, 5.5 x 8.5/lp
250 copies

Ex-pat St. Louisians, Ladd and Wiskirchen have created a sometimes biting, but nonetheless loving look at their hometown in this collection of haiku. With a thirty-something generation perspective the poems explore St. Louis from the Hill to the Landing, from the Fox to Left Bank Books. St. Lou Haiku was one of the manuscripts that awaited my decision in 2001, but the two poets were patient and await St. Louis's reaction to their endeavors. The type is 12 pt. Garamond Old Style The paper is Wausau Royal Linen with red endpaper. The cover and title page uses some Post (as in Saturday Evening Post) italic wooden type that I was given by the son of a deceased printer from Collinsville, Illinois. The zinc-cuts of my original illustrations of St. Louis locations were made by the Augustine Company in Marshalltown, Iowa.

Crossing Crocker Township, Robert Tremmel
55 pages: 29 poems, 5.5 x 8.5/lp
225 copies

The last manuscript that waited on my desk while I pondered the future of Timberline Press and finally decided to continue albeit at a slower clip was Robert Tremmel's. I liked it, but it was fairly long and I asked Bob to cut it to about thirty pages. I should have stipulated the line count that signified a page because although the revised manuscript had only thirty poems, some of the poems run more than one page. But the new grouping was a strong unit and presents well this Iowa poet's vision. The book is set in 10 pt. Garamond Old Style and printed on Wausau Royal Linen with a Via sunflower endpaper. The cover features a photograph by the author's son Nicholas.

2005

Stark Beauty, Larry D. Thomas
63 pages: 52 poems/4 illustrations, 5.5 x 8.5/lp
300 copies

In the announcement for Larry Thomas's Stark Beauty, I stated that it was the book Timberline had waited thirty years to publish, and the book was worth the wait. Larry drew from his West Texas roots to create in his usual crisp imagistic poetry a natural history of that starkly beautiful land. The book design and execution are among Timberline's best efforts, if not the best. Printed in 12 pt. Modern Roman on Wausau Royal Linen with Fabriano Ingres orange endpaper and stiff Fabriano Murillo cover, the book has four linocuts used on the title pages of the four sections of the book. Wrapping it all up is a dustjacket featuring the brilliant photograph ("Alpine Sunrise") by Lisa Thomas, Larry's wife. Again, we launched the book at the Angelo State University Writers Conference in Honor of Elmer Kelton, where Larry and I met in 1999. A bonus for the book is that it was first finalist for both the Western Heritage Award and the Western Writers of America Spur Award.

Menagerie, William Heyen
14 pages: 42 poems/1 illustration, 6 x 9
200 copies (op)

In this second chapbook by William Heyen that Timberline has published (see 2001), the poet gathers a menagerie of poets and the animals they encounter -- awake and in dreams; with fear, love, curiosity; but always in imaginative fullness. The type is 12 pt. Garamond Old Style on Wausau Royal Linen with Thai Unryu endpaper and Fabriano Tiziano cover (both shades of blue). On the half title page and cover is a silkscreen rendition of the cave paintings at Lascaux.

2006

A Hungry Happiness, Walt McLaughlin
31 pages: 29 poems/1 illustration, 5.5 x 8.5/lp
225 copies

Timberline had published two of Walt McLaughlin's essays in our Cedar Tick Natural History series, so to add this collection of poetry to our titles was fortunate because Walt is such a delightful person with whom to work. Being the publisher of Wood Thrush Books and long experienced in the book trade, he knows the work involved in not only creating the literature but in packaging and promoting it. As I have stated often, one of the real pleasures that Timberline has given me is the meeting of so many of the writers. Although we had corresponded for a number of years since Wild Lilies, I finally met Walt as I prepared to start production of A Hungry Happiness. As our first trip since retirement, Patricia and I wanted to go to New England for the fall foliage. Walt advised us when the colors would be at their brightest, but did not know that it would rain for four or five straight days at the same time. We got wet looking at the leaves, but meeting and visiting with Walt and his wife Judy more than balanced the rain. A Hungry Happiness was printed in 12 pt. Garamond Old Style on Wausau Royal Linen with a Via rust-brown endpaper and green Wausau Royal Fiber cover. An illustration of a loon by Joan Hyme graces the cover and frontispiece.

2007

Alles Kaputt, Poems of World War II, Stanley Noyes
41 pages: 31 poems, 5.5 x 8.5/lp
200 copies

Timberline printed Stanley Noyes's Annus Mirabilis in 2003. In subsequent correspondence, Stanley mentioned a group of new poems he had written about his experience in the last few months of WWII in Europe. It was as if these poems came storming out after a nearly sixty year gestation. One phrase Stanley said he heard repeatedly during those months as he and other young troopers marched through Germany was "Alles Kaputt" ("All is broken"), so that became the title of this fascinating chapbook from one member of the greatest generation. The book is printed in 12 pt. Garamond Old Style on Wausau Royal Linen text, Wausau Royal Silk endpaper, and Neenah Classic Linen cover. By the way, Alles Kaputt was selected one of the top ten books of the year in 2007 by the Kansas City Star.

Operation Supergoose, William Hart
202 pages: satirical novel, 5.5 x 8.5/o
print on demand

Although Timberline specializes in poetry, we have published a small amount of prose, but never a novel. William Hart convinced me that I should take a look at his parody of Voltaire's Candide that satirized the George W. Bush administration and the war in Iraq. Bill and his wife, Jayasri Majumdar, and Timberline had already collaborated on four collections of haiku, so it was not hard for him to convince me. The manuscript did the rest, so once again we pooled our talents -- this time Jayasri using her computer design skills -- to do Operation Supergoose. The book was prepared in late 2006, but we chose to delay its publication until spring 2007. It was printed by Lightning Source, Inc., who had done David Ray's One Thousand Years in 2004. I cannot claim that the book swayed public opinion against the Iraq war and led to Democratic victory in 2008, but it received good reviews and continues to sell after the departure of Bush and Cheney. Of course, we are still fighting in the Mideast.

Oracle of the Turtle: Poems on the I Ching, Robert Dyer
78 pages: 64 poems/illustrations, 5.75 x 8.75/lp
250 copies

Back in 1978, Singing Wind Publications did a letterpress edition of Robert Dyer's six-line poems based on the I Ching. This very nice book was followed with a second edition in 1979. For each of these editions, Dyer had created illustrations for the eight sectional title pages. Over the next quarter century, Bob expanded the number of illustrations to sixty-four, one for each of the poems in the collection. Timberline Press published this third edition of Oracle of the Turtle with all of those illustrations. The type is 12 pt. Garamond Old Style on Neenah's Environment text. The endpaper is Thai Unryu Marbled Momi, and the cover is Fabriano Elle Erre. Although I knew of Bob from reputation as folksinger and folklorist nearly since I moved to Missouri, I met him back in 1993, when he and Walter Bargen edited an anthology of poetry about the "Flood of the Century" in that year. A number of us contributors to the work traveled around the state giving readings and performances. Another old friend and Timberline writer, Jim Bogan, brought Bob's completed vision of Oracle to my attention, and I set off on this ambitious project. Bob had cancer and we desperately tried to finish the book while he could still see the fulfillment of that vision. Sadly, he died about two weeks before the last page was printed.

West of West, Walter Bargen
76 pages: 60 poems / 4 photos (including cover) by Alan Berner, 5.5x8.5/x
First printing of 200

West of West is the sixth book by Walter that Timberline published. Those six volumes and the volumes published by BkMk Press of Kansas City and other publishers illustrate the growth of a poetic master. Development like Walter's is a major reason any publisher would want to be in the literary business, to help nurture a writer's art by giving him or her an outlet and audience. Six months after the book was published, Walter was selected as the first ever poet laureate of Missouri. I like to think Timberline had a small part in that accomplishment. For this book Walter turned to the photographer Alan Berner of Seattle for illustrations for each of the three sectional title pages and the ironic cover. The design and binding were done by Timberline, but the printing was done by Fulton Graphics to reproduce the photos. The book has had two re-printings of a total of 145 copies.

Night of the Broken Glass and Transformations, Emily Borenstein
276 pages, 6 x 9/o paperback & hardback
print on demand

In 2006, Emily Borenstein and I began talking about a twenty-fifth anniversary edition of Night of the Broken Glass. She had tried to get the book republished earlier, but I was hesitant to take on such a big letterpress project as the original edition of 1981. However, when I learned about Lightning Source POD operation, I thought we could bring out the anniversary edition. Emily had enlarged her vision over the quarter century, and now instead of the 83 pages of the original, she had nearly 300 pages. It is her magnum opus. This was the third Lightning Source produced book, but the first one that I had to prepare the electronic manuscript to fit LSI's specifications. With the help of my wife Patricia in typing and formatting the text and also Jayasri Majumdar on the cover because she had the software, we prepared the files and LSI produced a handsome book.

The Devil's Song, William Heyen
9 pages : one narrative poem / 1 illustration, 6 x 9/lp
200 copies

In rhymed couplets, this narrative poem about a farmer's adventure with the devil as servant joins William Heyen's other two Timberline books. Being published in November, it was my version of the Christmas books popular in the Victorian period. I do not know why ghost stories were particularly popular for the Christmas books, but the tradition gave us such classics as Dickens's The Christmas Carol and Henry James's The Turn of the Screw. Heyen's devil is a "handsome red-shelled fellow," and red became the dominant theme of the book with a deep red Fabriano Elle Erre cover set off by black Hahnemuhle Ingres endpaper. The text is 14 pt. Garamond Old Style with Old English display printed on Neenah Environment Felt text.

The year of 2007 had been a big year. Five projects were completed and several others were in progress. For a number of reasons, during the year I came to the hard decision to end Timberline Press. When Bob Dyer died before I completed work on Oracle of the Turtle, I thought about my own mortality and the possibility of my leaving a writer with a half completed book. So I decided to finish the projects to which I was committed and shut down Timberline Press. I thought I could finish the four projects by the end of 2008. Read on.

2008

The Fraternity of Oblivion, Larry D. Thomas
45 pages: 40 poems / 4 illustrations, 8.5 x 7.5 / lp
250 copies

We wanted to publish The Fraternity of Oblivion in 2007, the year Larry Thomas was selected as poet laureate of Texas, but the number of other projects did not leave time for this letterpress project. It was officially published in February at the Angelo State University Writers Conference in Honor of Elmer Kelton, at which Larry and I had met back in 1999. He was still Texas Poet Laureate since the term expired in April, and San Angelo was the symbolic starting point of our collaboration with The Lighthouse Keeper (2001, Larry's first book publication) and Stark Beauty (2005). Larry had drawn upon his career as a Harris County probation officer to poetically present the world of outlaw bikers. The book became a family affair because Lisa, his wife, took the photo of a Harley Davidson that adorns the cover and Dennis Yi Adams, my son-in-law who is a tattoo artist, did the illustrations. Fulton Graphics printed the cover. I designed the book to resemble an owner's manual, so it is wider than it is high and uses double columns. In keeping with the hard and sometimes dark subject and themes, the type is 12 pt. Egyptian Bold. The paper is Wausau Royal Linen wrapped in Fabriano Elle Erre endpaper.

The Sea's Rosary, Kathleen M. McCann
25 pages: 19 poems, 5.5 x 8.5/lp
200 copies

Kate McCann lives in Weymouth, Massachusetts, and her poetry gives me the feel of the New England coast. I had decided to publish The Sea's Rosary before I decided to cease Timberline's operation, so I was working on it while I completed the last stages of Larry Thomas's The Fraternity of Oblivion. Therefore, it was published shortly after Larry's book in spring of 2008. Its gentleness is quite a contrast to the rough rawness of Fraternity. And the design reflects that difference. The type is 12 pt. Modern Roman with Key Point for display. The text is Wausau Royal Linen wrapped in a periwinkle blue Royal Fiber endpaper and Fox River Crushed Leaf cover.

Here it was less than halfway through 2008 and Timberline had published two of the four books to which it was committed. At the time, I was confident that I would finish the last two before the end of the year. But then we unexpectedly gained another book to publish. In 1999, we had published Florence Krause's collection of short stories entitled The Red Lights of Hell. When a year later she had several more stories to add, we did a second edition. Florence had lain low for nearly eight years, but she had been busy writing and now had a total of ten stories she wanted published in a third edition. I had begun the two final books of poetry that were letterpressed, so my wife volunteered to compose the book by computer. She had had back surgery in late 2007, and by late spring-early summer of 2008, she was ready to test her strength. The only problem was that her vertebrae did not wish to cooperate. During the summer, pain returned and it was discovered that she had problems above the vertebrae where rods had been inserted, so she needed another operation. And she could not continue, so I began working on The Red Lights of Hell, 3rd edition.

The Red Lights of Hell, 3rd edition, Florence Phyfer Krause
57 pages: 10 stories, 5.5 x 8.5/x 100 copies

We added four stories to those collected in the second edition and used 12 pt. Garamond on Wausau Royal Fiber paper with Wausau Royal Silk endpaper and cover. In a way, this was our Christmas book for 2008, again with red being the dominant color for cover and endpaper, but the ghosts were only those of Florence's memories of growing up during the Depression and World War II in New Albany, Mississippi.

2009

The last two books from Timberline Press were in process as the year ended and Patricia faced a third operation on her back.

The Nap by the Waterfall, Howard Nelson
44 pages: 19 poems, 5.5 x 8.5 / lp
250 copies

The Nap by the Waterfall was published in early spring 2009. Howard Nelson had written a perceptive review of Walt McLaughlin's A Hungry Happiness a couple of years earlier and then inquired whether I'd take a look at his manuscript. I thought if his poetry matched his review, it would be something Timberline would indeed like to see. In the process we cut out a few of the poems, and the result is a collection with a strong voice and keen insights into the human condition. The text is 12 pt. Garamond Old Style with Jefferson Gothic display on Wausau Royal Linen text and cover. The endpaper is Canson Mi-Teintes. The zinc-cut for the cover was manufactured by the Augustine Company of Marshalltown, Iowa, from a drawing by Thomas Middleton.

Mount Toby Poems, Wally Swist
35 pages: 24 poems, 5.5 x 8.5 / lp
200 copies

Whereas Howard Nelson was a newcomer to the distinguished group of Timberline Press writers, Wally Swist was a three-peat. Two collections of haiku -- Blowing Reeds (1995) and The White Rose (2000) -- had preceded Mount Toby Poems, which is not haiku. I had received Wally's manuscript during the time I was coming to the decision to end publication and felt it would be a good way to end the thirty-four years of publishing. It was a sound group of poems done with Wally's usual craft and sensitivity and it leant itself to a classic book arts production. The text is 12 pt. Garamond Old Style with consistent display. The paper is Wausau Royal Linen, the endpaper is tan Environment woven, and the cover is brown Leader Basis Antique Vellum. The cover features a linocut of Mount Toby in Massachusetts. The result is a handsome book of wonderful poetry -- what Timberline Press prided itself on all along.

In the thirty-four years (1975-2009) that I operated Timberline Press, I published a total of seventy-four books by forty different writers. Fifteen of those writers published more than once with Timberline; I published six of my own books, but Walter Bargen leads the rest, also with six books. It was a great way to spend half of my life.