TONY FRAZER IN HIS OWN WORDS
The late Jim Weil, the publisher of The Elizabeth Press, gave Tony my address in the fall of 1980. Or perhaps Jim gave me Tony’s address. In any event, the first letter I have from Tony is dated 1 October 1980 and states that “Jim Weil has been kindness itself putting me in contact with yourself, Simon Perchik, & John Perlman.” Jim was, in fact, extraordinarily kind and generous and I remain grateful to Jim for many things, including introducing me to Tony. At this time Tony was beginning to publish Shearsman.
I have a number of letters from Tony, written from between October 1980 and November 1981. I will cite a handful of excerpts from those letters as my contribution to this celebration of Tony’s 64th birthday. Almost all of his letters are from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We corresponded primarily about the writers he was publishing in Shearsman, but I am providing excerpts that mostly comment upon various other matters. My hope is that these excerpts will offer a sort of quick sketch that complements other contributions to this birthday tribute.
Frequently Tony would put an apology at the end of his letters (almost all of which were on a blue Malaysian aerogramme) apologizing for his “horrid typing” and I have corrected any typos. Also, in many of the letters the first person “I” is in lower case, but in the excepts below I have put it in upper case (in part because my auto-correct makes them upper case).
From a 28.11.80 letter from , referring to his forthcoming first issue of Shearsman:
“. ..No. 1. . .has Jaffin, Sobin, Dawson, Pierre Reverdy, Booth, Bly, Crick, Beresford, Corman, Eigner, Stryk, Weil, Perchik, Sorescu. & that’s a 100 pages. if you’re going to read it in bed, you’ll have to have one of those page-turners they use in hospitals!”
From a 27.12.80 letter:
“I have a degree in Art History from an English university. So why banking? Simple: money first, & voluntary exile second.”
From a 13.1.81 letter:
“ you’re not going to believe this but a small gecko (wall-lizard) just poked his head out of my typewriter: must be getting a bit noisy in there.”
* * * * *
“My art history specialisation was Russian art of the revolution, & particularly Malevich & Lissitzky (Rodchenko & Tatlin also). Naturally I studied the Renaissance & Baroque, & Dutch 17th century etc. also. I have a passion for Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Alzheimer & Lissitzky, which should horrify most art-lovers I know. It was a nice subject to study, while I had the chance. . .”
From a 26.6.81 letter:
“Happy birthday, while I remember it. A few years ago I thought people of 30 & up were halfway to the grave. I hit the 30 mark in a bit over 4 months, & have changed my views!!”
* * * * *
"My vacation looms in the near future, & I'm playing 2 or 3 games of cricket, in typically indolent colonial manner, before I go. . .I know of nothing more difficult than to explain to Europeans what cricket is all about. Americans grasp it more easily because of certain superficial similarities to baseball."
From a 23.11.81 letter:
"I can (just about) remember the hell of adolescence. I wouldn't want to go through it again, that's for sure."
The late Jim Weil, the publisher of The Elizabeth Press, gave Tony my address in the fall of 1980. Or perhaps Jim gave me Tony’s address. In any event, the first letter I have from Tony is dated 1 October 1980 and states that “Jim Weil has been kindness itself putting me in contact with yourself, Simon Perchik, & John Perlman.” Jim was, in fact, extraordinarily kind and generous and I remain grateful to Jim for many things, including introducing me to Tony. At this time Tony was beginning to publish Shearsman.
I have a number of letters from Tony, written from between October 1980 and November 1981. I will cite a handful of excerpts from those letters as my contribution to this celebration of Tony’s 64th birthday. Almost all of his letters are from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We corresponded primarily about the writers he was publishing in Shearsman, but I am providing excerpts that mostly comment upon various other matters. My hope is that these excerpts will offer a sort of quick sketch that complements other contributions to this birthday tribute.
Frequently Tony would put an apology at the end of his letters (almost all of which were on a blue Malaysian aerogramme) apologizing for his “horrid typing” and I have corrected any typos. Also, in many of the letters the first person “I” is in lower case, but in the excepts below I have put it in upper case (in part because my auto-correct makes them upper case).
From a 28.11.80 letter from , referring to his forthcoming first issue of Shearsman:
“. ..No. 1. . .has Jaffin, Sobin, Dawson, Pierre Reverdy, Booth, Bly, Crick, Beresford, Corman, Eigner, Stryk, Weil, Perchik, Sorescu. & that’s a 100 pages. if you’re going to read it in bed, you’ll have to have one of those page-turners they use in hospitals!”
From a 27.12.80 letter:
“I have a degree in Art History from an English university. So why banking? Simple: money first, & voluntary exile second.”
From a 13.1.81 letter:
“ you’re not going to believe this but a small gecko (wall-lizard) just poked his head out of my typewriter: must be getting a bit noisy in there.”
* * * * *
“My art history specialisation was Russian art of the revolution, & particularly Malevich & Lissitzky (Rodchenko & Tatlin also). Naturally I studied the Renaissance & Baroque, & Dutch 17th century etc. also. I have a passion for Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Alzheimer & Lissitzky, which should horrify most art-lovers I know. It was a nice subject to study, while I had the chance. . .”
From a 26.6.81 letter:
“Happy birthday, while I remember it. A few years ago I thought people of 30 & up were halfway to the grave. I hit the 30 mark in a bit over 4 months, & have changed my views!!”
* * * * *
"My vacation looms in the near future, & I'm playing 2 or 3 games of cricket, in typically indolent colonial manner, before I go. . .I know of nothing more difficult than to explain to Europeans what cricket is all about. Americans grasp it more easily because of certain superficial similarities to baseball."
From a 23.11.81 letter:
"I can (just about) remember the hell of adolescence. I wouldn't want to go through it again, that's for sure."
John Levy
