In Loving Memory of Noel Peattie

Adopted at 2005 Midwinter Meeting

WHEREAS we remember the librarian, the advocate of social responsibilities, the author:

A Cup of Sky, co-authored with his father, Donald Culross Peattie (1898-1964). Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1950.
Sipapu, 1969-1993, 14 linear ft., UC Davis Library,
A Passage for Dissent: the best of “Sipapu” 1970-1988, Jefferson NC: McFarland & Co, 1989.
The Freedom to Lie: a debate about democracy, with John Swan, Jefferson NC: McFarland & Co, 1989.
Western Skyline: new poems, Oakland: Regent Press, 1995.
Amy Rose: a novel in four parts, Oakland: Regent Press, 1995.
Hydra & Kraken: Or, the Lore and Lure of Lake-Monsters and Sea-Serpents, Oakland CA: Regent Press, 1996.
In the Dome of Saint Laurence Meteor, Oakland: Regent Press, 1999.
King Humble's Grave, Oakland: Regent Press, 2001.
Sweetwater Ranch: new poems, Oakland: Regent Press, 2003.

And WHEREAS we remember the host who kept our wine glasses and our conversations full:

And WHEREAS we remember the man who answered the question, “What kind of society do you want, anyhow?”

“The answer I propose is: that the society I desire, and which, on a universalizing principle, I want for all, is a society which protects, promotes, and honors the inner life.

I would further suggest, is that the demands, heard from pole to pole, for freedom, justice, security, equality, education, a safe environment, and a better life for the world's children,—are all grounded in, and reach downward to, this elemental human need: silence, solitude, and the right to rule one's own thoughts: the sanity of the inner life.

And Finally: this inner life, I contend, is an endangered species: assaulted without, and subject to disease within.”

http://www.noelpeattie.com/InnerLife.htm

And WHEREAS we remember the lover of cats:

“Before we leave the library world, we recollect our long-held belief that a library, and the library profession, find their analogy in our cat. The brain of the cat directs him to go out and find a mouse: this is Administration. He perceives, by sight, sound, and smell, the mouse: this is Collection Development. He catches the mouse: this is Acquisitions. He digests the mouse: this is Cataloging and Serials. He comes in and tells us about the mouse: this is Reference. He curls up in a ball and enjoys the mouse: this is Circulation. Finally, later on, he produces, for the out-of-doors, an Annual Report, which no one wants to see. So he buries it. However, he loves, and expects, regular supplies of goodies, and adores being brushed and cuddled and told how beautiful he is. And he has no morals, no politics, and no religion.” Sipapu v.23, no. 2, 1993, p. 12

And WHEREAS we remember the poet:

The Way to Get Through Life

is to try! yes, how?
to forget
most of it.

Like, all the years at school,
(but not the lifelong friends,

then, the weekends that were joy;
city adventures);

and rather hope for, much later:

vast witty banquets;
at which you'll be honored
—poems of a lifetime!—
under glittering chandeliers.

And welcome: all goings to bed:
even those
alone:

except the last,

except the last.

—The Testimony of Doves, forthcoming