Subject: (urth) Has anyone heard of C. S. Cooney?

From: Jason Willard <funesmem6 at msn.com>
Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 17:47:36 +0000

I just got my copy of Starwater Strains and the dedication says the title is from a poem by C. S. Cooney called "Lady Rosemary."  Rosemary I get, of course, but is Mr. Wolfe in the habit of making up poets?  I can't find this poet mentioned in Google or Wikipedia or ABE Books.  (As fabulous as they are, admittedly limited sources.)  Am I missing something obvious?  Has Wolfe used this as a pseudonym?
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From: Maru Dubshinki <marudubshinki at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 19:50:59 +0000

On 8/10/05, Jason Willard <funesmem6 at msn.com> wrote:
> I just got my copy of Starwater Strains and the dedication says the title is
> from a poem by C. S. Cooney called "Lady Rosemary."  Rosemary I get, of
> course, but is Mr. Wolfe in the habit of making up poets?  I can't find this
> poet mentioned in Google or Wikipedia or ABE Books.  (As fabulous as they
> are, admittedly limited sources.)  Am I missing something obvious?  Has
> Wolfe used this as a pseudonym? 

There is a man of letters by the name of "Seamus Cooney".  Cooney is
not a common last name at all, and that fellow has at least one of the
right initials.  But he doesn't appear to have authored any poems,
rather just edited a lot of poems and letters by such luminaries as
Charles Bukowski; there is an Irish principal who likes poetry, but
that seems unlikely; and it doesn't appear to be a code of some sort-
at least, the most significant anagram is "Once Cosy". Perhaps you
could copy the poem, if Wolfe included it (or did he simply mention it
in passing?).

~Maru
Current mood: ?

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From: JWillard <aldenweer at charter.net>
Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 20:35:38 +0000

Maru Dubshinki wrote:

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>  
>
It reads:

"The title of this book is taken from "Lady Rosemary," a poem by C. S. 
Cooney;  and this book is dedicated to them."

That's it.  Three possibilities (as far as I can see):  Cooney is an 
obscure poet (and Wolfe does seem to have some obscure things in his 
library); something's misprinted; or someone's doing some leg-pulling.  
Thanks for the feedback!

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From: Maru Dubshinki <marudubshinki at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 21:52:02 +0000

> library); something's misprinted; or someone's doing some leg-pulling.

Well, I gave the Library of Congress  a shot; no joy.
But something rings wrong about that text.  "this book is dedicated to
*them*"?  Is that pronoun correct?  There are three possible referents
for that pronoun: "Starwater Strains" (unacceptable, since that is a
very strange thing to anthromorphize, and I'm not even sure what
starwater strains could be, anyways), Rosemary (well, Wolfe *could* be
a herbal fanatic. It's possible, but improbable), and finally, C. S.
Cooney, in which case the name could well be a pseudonym for a
collective/duo/misc. group of writers, somewhat like Bourbaki is for
mathematicians.

~Maru

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From: JWillard <aldenweer at charter.net>
Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 17:20:55 +0000

>collective/duo/misc. group of writers, somewhat like Bourbaki is for
[Asked David Hartwell - this was his response:]

I asked and got this response from my agent Susan Protter, via Gene 
Wolfe's friend Patrick O'Leary.

DGH

Dear Dave:

Claire Cooney is a neighbor, fan, family friend and renaissance devotee, 
singer and poet.

Patrick says she is a sweet young girl....

SUSAN

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From: Maru Dubshinki <marudubshinki at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 19:50:42 +0000

> Patrick says she is a sweet young girl....

/jaw drops.
You're kidding, right?

~Maru
"First, I thought mountains were mountains; then I learned, and knew
that mountains are not mountains. But now, mountains are just
mountains."

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From: don doggett <kingwukong at yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2005 20:06:21 +0000

> > Patrick says she is a sweet young girl....

That's awesome.  I thought something like that might
be the case. I'm glad it was, it speaks well of GW.
Why don't you guys write her and ask her for copies of
her poetry? She might be stoked. :)

Don

____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page 
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

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From: Maru Dubshinki <marudubshinki at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2005 20:21:28 +0000

> her poetry? She might be stoked. :)

Why not indeed- the poem might provide context for the anthology.
What do you think, SUSAN?  Does that sound too creepy/stalker-ish or no?

~Maru

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From: JWillard <aldenweer at charter.net>
Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2005 07:52:30 +0000

Maru Dubshinki wrote:

>>>>I asked and got this response from my agent Susan
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>Protter, via Gene
>>>      
>>>
>>>>Claire Cooney is a neighbor, fan, family friend
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>and renaissance devotee,
>>>      
>>>
>>>>singer and poet.
>>>>
I don't know: she might be flattered or she might find it 
uncomfortable.  So I think I'm going to call it good just to have an 
answer.  And if a volume of poetry by a C.S. Cooney ever appears, I'll 
pick it up. :)

-Jason