DANNY SHOT
LONG SHOT
Long Shot made its debut
in early 1982, but the idea and planning of the first issue took place in 1980.
Cofounders Eliot Katz and Danny Shot were just out of college (
A short-lived but impressive literary journal out of
Long Shot #1 features poetry by Susie Timmons, Alicia Ostriker, Richard Hell, Eileen Myles, Kevin Hayes, James Ruggia, Allen Ginsberg, as well as Long Shot regulars Andy
Clausen, Katz, Shot, and Robert Press. The famous Long Shot horses made their
debut with this first volume. Dan Shot and Joanne Lanciotti
cut horses out of a Sports Illustrated article on horse racing and pasted them
down on the title page. Over the next twelve years as they were reproduced
repeatedly, these horses morphed into creatures more resembling dachshunds and dalmatians than racehorses. The oddest thing about Long
Shot #1 is its cover. It was supposed to be a photo of a guy standing in front
of a wall that was spray painted with graffiti "REAL TACKY." For some
reason, Eliot panicked as he approached the printing process and got the
photographer's permission to paste a picture of a ballerina sideways over the
word "TACKY"--in the process cutting off most of the ballerina's legs
and forgetting to ask Shot his opinion re this
experimental collage. Danny still cannot comprehend what thought process went
through Eliot's brain at the time.
Volume #2 came out a year later. After Volume #1 sold out of its initial
run of 500 copies, Shot and Katz found themselves broke and trying to raise
production expenses by selling ads to New Brunswick businesses including long
time Long Shot patrons, The Court Tavern and Melody Bar. Long Shot 2 was put
together in much the same way as #1. Vol. #2 featured original poetry by Amiri and Amina Baraka, Jim Carrol, Ray Bremser, Antler, Jeff
Poniewaz, Janet Cannon, photos by Deborah Troeller, an interview with William Burroughs, more work by
Katz, Shot, Clausen and Press, as well as the Long Shot debut of future editor
Jack Wiler.
Long Shot #3 came out in 1984 with the financial help of friends and
neighbors. Joanne Lanciotti, who had helped create
Long Shot officially took on the title of Art Editor.
Long Shot #3 features 7 drawings by Brandi Merolla,
an artist who was a regular contributor to the early issues of Long Shot. Vol.
3 also featured unpublished poems by Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Tom Waits and up-to-then unpublished poems by Jack
Kerouac. Long Shot #3 also marks theLong Shot debut
of Charles Bukowski. Volume 3 opens up with 5 poems
by Bukowski. The back cover is a reproduction of a
letter from Buk that reads:
Hello Eliot Katz; Dan Shot;
Glad I got some poems by you. Take your time.
Ending 2nd bottle of wine, radio blasting Eric Coates -
All's Well. Everytime I get
Drunk and figure I'm not in the tank, then,
That's a good night.
Easy, Buk
We invited Tom Waits to contribute to Long Shot by writing a letter to his
record company, the address taken from the back of an album. Miracle of
miracles, Waits generously responded. 1984 also saw the publication of Long
Shot's first book, Andy Clausen's The Iron Curtain of Love, printed on a
20-year-old Multilith printing press in a Piscataway
porch that was the home of
It was two years before Long Shot #4 appeared in 1986. Progress was
slowed by Shot's insistence on having a personal life, marrying artist Caroline
Doncourt in 1985. Eliot Katz and Robert Press served
as co-best-men. Shot also began working as a highschool
teacher in
Shot edited Volume 5 by himself. Volume 5 featured the ill conceived
double front cover (one rightside up, the other
upside down). Why ill conceived? Because way back in 1987, bookstores would rip
the covers off unsold magazines and books and return them to the distributors
for credit. Needless to say, the temptation to return 2 covers for each
magazine was too strong to resist for many bookstores. What saved Volume 5 and
Long Shot from an early demise was the poetry of actor Sean Penn. Shot had read
an article in The N.Y. Daily News poking fun at Sean Penn's attempts at writing
poetry. Shot looked at the poems in the paper and liked what he saw. Through an
actress friend, Shot found Sean Penn's address and wrote to him. Penn responded
warmly and favorably, sending a batch of poems. Of course, lawyers got
involved, contracts were signed, agreements made, but subsequently Long Shot
Vol. 5 begins with 7 poems by Sean Penn. #5 also features work by Bukowski, Diane Wakoski, Eileen
Myles, and Cookie Mueller.
Volume 6 brought much needed editorial assistance from Caren Lee Michaelson who joined
the staff of one. Volume 6 features the now regrettable back cover photo of
Shot sitting naked in a tree after being caught skinny dipping in the
Volume 7 contains Shot's favorite Long Shot cover, predictably a cover
designed by him. The cover consists of black and white photobooth
pictures pasted together to form a grid. If you look, you'll see Lamont
Steptoe, Antler, Eileen Myles, Mary Shanley, Jack Wiler, Caren Lee Michaelson, Jeff Poniewaz, Robert
Press, Lorri Jackson, Linda Harper, and Shot giving
the finger to the world right there on the front cover. This same idea (photobooth photos placed together to form a grid) appeared
on various album covers, and magazine spreads during the next year, but I
swear, we did it first. Volume 7 features even more Bukowski,
Anne Waldman and Eileen Myles.
Volume 8, published early in 1989 is the first Volume to bear our
Volume 9 brought Jack Wiler into the fold as
an editor. This 1990 issue featured a poetic tribute to Abbie
Hoffman who had recently died as well as an interview with him by two
Volume 10/11 was a double issue featuring once again the ill-conceived
reversible front covers: As we've always said in my family, you can't fool a
Shot more than twice. Volume 10 edited by Shot and Mary Shanley, with assistance and an introduction by Jim Fouratt, focused on the theme of AIDS in America. It
featured a cover photograph of a man carrying a sign that reads "MEN Use
Condoms Or Beat It!" Included in this section is
work by Lou Reed, Roy LaRose, Phil Zwickler, Tim Dlugos, David West,
Kevin Hayes and others. (Looking back, I'm saddened by the number of
contributors who are no longer with us.) The idea for this issue came to Shot as he sat at a memorial service for Cookie Mueller, a
writer Shot had deeply admired. Profits from this issue were donated to ACT-UP,
a militant activist organization, which was doing the important work of
alerting the political establishment as well as the citizenry to the dangers of
apathy in the face of the AIDS crisis.
Volume 11 includes work by Quincy Troupe, Paul Beatty, Alicia Ostriker, Alice Notley, Jack
Hirschman, Vampyre Mike Kassel, and mourns the
passing of Lorri Jackson who died of a drug overdose
at age 29. On a positive note, Vol. 11 marks the L.S. debut of a longtime hero
of N.J. poetics, Herschel Silverman.
Volume 12 (1991) brought more editorial changes. New editors Jessica Chosid and Tom Pulhamus joined
the force. Jack Wiler became Editor-in-Chief. This
volume featured outstanding artwork by the likes of Leon Golub,
Judy Siegel, Ron English, Artfux as well as one of
our most controversial covers featuring a photo of a 1950's bathing beauty in a
watermelon patch, holding two juicy watermelons in front of her breasts.
Writers featured in this issue include Bukowski,
Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Miguel Algarin, Nancy Mercado, Eve Packer and Denise Duhamel. A
number of poems in this issue were written in response to the Gulf War
(remember that?).
Volume #13 features art by Leon Golub, Nancy Spero, Komar and Melamid, Yael Bloom, Kathe
Burkhart, Lynne Breitfeller and a photo essay
entitled "Wildgirl's Go-Go-Rama." Strong
(and sometimes controversial) artwork was becoming a trademark by this time.
Writers contributing to this issue included Bukowski,
Baraka, Paul Beatty, Eileen Myles, Peter Orlovsky,
The Cars' Ric Ocasek,
Gillian McCain, and The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy
(featuring Michael Franti). At this time (1991) Jack Wiler came up with the slogan we still use today: Writing
for the Real World! Note: today you'll see this phrase applied to any number of
things, ie, "Banking for the Real World!!!"
But take it from me: We invented the slogan. Under the leadership of Wiler, Long Shot printed t-shirts carrying the "Writing
for the Real World" motto along with a handsome illustration by Jessica Chosid.
Long Shot #14 brought a new editor into the fold, if just for one issue.
Erik LaPrade had put together an issue of poems for
the magazine Poetry
Long Shot Vol.15 saw the addition of a new editor, Nancy Mercado, who
supplied us with a needed shot of energy as well as the keys to a poetry world
we had mostly been observers to, but not real participants in--The Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Under the influence of Mercado, Long
Shot 15 featured work by Miguel Algarin, Piri Thomas, Pedro Pietri, Sandra
Maria Esteves, Bob Holman, David Henderson, Tracie
Morris, reg E. gaines, Tony
Medina, Ras Baraka, Edwin Torres and Latin Empire.
Long Shot 15 also featured written work by Bukowski,
Kathy Price, Gerry Gomez Pearlberg, Jack Micheline, Tsaurah Litsky and Rebecca Fransway.
Artists included Larry Rivers, Robert DeNiro (the actor's
father), June Leaf, Lynne Breitfeller, Cindy Sherman,
an amazing series of photos by Allen Ginsberg complete with captions, and a
what-would-become a classic shot of Jack Micheline
standing arms folded like the king of the world in his moment of glory in front
of Charles Mingus playing that huge stand up bass.
The front cover (and an inside spread) was given over to Larry Clark photos of
kids on skateboards.
Long Shot 16 featured new poetry by Gregory Corso,
Ted Joans, Quincy Troupe, Alicia Ostriker,
Victor Hernandez Cruz, Katherine Arnoldi, Sonic
Youth's Lee Ranaldo, Hal Sirowitz,
Ernie Hilbert, Saint Teresa Stone, Rafael Alvarado,and Scott Wannberg. What
distinguished this issue was a section devoted to jazz entitled Brilliant
Corners, edited by Zoe Anglesey for Long Shot. Included in this section are
poems by Paul Beatty, Lamont Steptoe, John Farris, Herschel Silverman, Hettie Jones, David Henderson, Steve Cannon, Jack Micheline, Yuko Otomo, Pedro Pietri, Al Aronowitz, Steve Dalachinsky, Quincy Troupe and Archie Shepp.
Also featured were drawings made by John Coltrane for musicians working with
him that make sense to people who understand Music.
Volume 16 mourned the passing of Charles Bukowski, a
writer who was an inspiration and a building block to many issues of Long Shot.
A drawing by Bukowski at the back of the issue was
the last work of his that would appear in the pages of Long Shot. His loss is
still felt.
1995 proved a watershed year for Long Shot. Jack Wiler
resigned his post for a bunch of reasons but before he left Wiler
brought aboard a new editor, recent
Volume 18,
brought new changes to the overall look of Long Shot, in large part due to
Lynne Breitfeller's sense of design. The hobo
lettering of the Long Shot title was retired and the title page horses were put
out to pasture. Long Shot #18 (1996) featured poetry by Willie Perdomo, Sonia Sanchez, Ishmael Reed, Miguel Algarin, Reg E. Gaines, Bobby
Miller, Rebecca Fransway, Scott Holstad,
and Nicole Panter. Volume #18 featured outstanding
fiction by Maggie Estep, Paul Drexel, Fritz Hamilton, Carol Lazare
and Ina Roy. Artistically speaking this issue featured artwork by Diego Rios,
Eric Drooker, Elizabeth Murray, and yes the one and
only Yoko Ono. Most striking of all however is the photography of Shelby Lee
Adams.
It was back to a theme issue for 1997's POLITICS (Volume 19) issue.
Eliot Katz returned to the scene of the crime to serve as Guest Editor. Long
Shot always had a political bent to it. Shot always admired and consciously
tried to emulate Lena Wertmuller's successful blend of sex and politics. This
issue of Long Shot was devoted entirely to politics. Along with poetry and
artwork, Long Shot tried something new: articles. Actually, the first two
issues of Long Shot contained one article each: important pieces on nuclear
testing in the Pacific islands and practical information about water pollution.
But in this issue, for the first time, articles play a prominent role.
Alongside the lit you'll find essays by Francis Fox Piven,
Stephen Bronner, and Clarence Lusane;
a speech by Winona LaDuke; an interview with Noam
Chomsky; and a powerful introduction by Eliot Katz. Poets featured in this
issue include: Jack Hirschman, Amiri Baraka, Pedro Pietri, Adrienne Rich. Tuli Kupferberg, Jayne Cortez, Sparrow, Allen Ginsberg, Luis J.
Rodriguez, and Nellie Wong. Artists include Amiri
Baraka (drawings), Ida Applebroog, Hannah Wilke, Komar and Melamid, Eric Drooker and Tuli Kupferberg (a framed
original of Republican Witches Brew hangs in Shot's office). This issue
features the most visually stunning of Long Shot's covers: an illustration by
renowned artist Sue Coe entitled The West Meets the Rest which pictures a
muscular dog wearing a top hat voraciously gnawing on a leg of something as
other dogs square off across a divide ready for conflict, a flicker of envy in
their eyes. Solid high contrast black and white graphic design reminiscent of
New Masses (1930's) covers highlight this cover. Under the leadership of Katz,
the editorial staff collectively and painstakingly assembled this important
issue of Long Shot. Shot and Katz had great expectations for this issue. Unsurprisingly,
a number of the reviews have been negative in tone, whining about the
incompatibility of art and politics.
1997 also saw the publication of L.S.'s 2nd book,
Jack Wiler's aptly titled I Have No Clue. Alicia Ostriker says the following about Wiler's
verse: "When I read the inimitable Jack Wiler, I
can't tell if I'm laughing or crying, or being punched in the teeth by the
Zeitgeist. Here is true grit, true rage, true fear and lust, true language. If
you hate your job, read this book. Read it anyway. . ."
Long Shot Vol. 20 sadly and fondly offers tribute to poet Allen Ginsberg
who had passed away months before. Poets paying tribute include Katz,
Silverman, Shot, gaines,
Quincy Troupe, Papoleto Melendez, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Also featured in this issue are Ray Bremser, Sandra Maria Esteves and
an interview with Exene Cervenkova.
Artists represented include Duane Michals, Patt Blue, Charles Henri Ford, Ira Cohen and Gerald Slota.
Long Shot Vol. 21 (Nov.98) features original poetry by Wanda Coleman,
Allen Ginsberg, a tribute to Jack Micheline
(deceased 2/98), Ira Cohen, and a stunning cover featuring H.R. Giger's Bullet Baby. At this point in time the editorial
staff consists of Shot, Mercado, Breitfeller, Andy
Clausen, Ernie Hilbert and David Stack. 1998 also saw the inception of the
official Long Shot website www@longshot.org created and maintained by technowiz David Vanadia and Lynne
Breitfeller.
1998 was a busy year for Long Shot with
the publication of 2 issues of Long Shot as well as 2 books of poetry. The
first book of poetry published in February was the original buckwheat by reg E. gaines.
Gaines is known for his appearances on MTV Unplugged and as the writer of the
Broadway musical Bring In Da
Noise, Bring In Da Funk, as well as being a former Nuyorican Grand Slam Champion. Tony Medina's book
(September 1998) Sermons From the Smell of a Carcass Condemned to Begging
offers the reader urgent poems written from the perspective of a homeless man
by the name of Broke.
It must be emphasized that throughout the
years Long Shot has existed without the benefit of grants, choosing to succeed
the old fashioned way; by selling enough magazines to go on to the next issue.
Plus the generosity of various rock and roll bands, singers, musicians, poets,
and friends who have donated time and effort in playing at benefits and
fundraisers for a worthy cause. The cause being a truly
independent arts and literary magazine that remains unhampered by the need to
appeal to either a government funded or corporate overseer. Long Shot
remains "Writing for the real World."
1999 has been a good year for Long Shot.
In March, we partied into the morning at the Limelight in
September 1999 sees the publication of Long
Shot 22 which in a way is a return to our roots of presenting raw, graphic,
exhuberant, poetry devoid of pretense (within
reason). This issue features a frontcover and artwork
by J.K. Potter and, a backcover by Sandy Skoglund. While the two artists' visions are quite unique,
there is something about the juxtaposition of images on the front and back
covers that makes their respective works go well together. Writers featured in
this issue include Sherman Alexie, Diane diPrima, Quincy Troupe, Alicia Ostriker,
U Sam Oer, Janine Pommy
Vega, Penny Arcade, Bob Holman, Edwin Torres, Ray Bremser,
and Tuli Kupferberg. Andy
Clausen edited a section featuring young, talented poets whom he believes
deserve attention. This feature will be a regular part of Long Shot from here
on.
The new millennium saw the publication of
Cheryl Boyce Taylor's book; Night When Moon Follows. This 96 page volume of
poetry got off to a rousing start at St. Mark's Poetry Project. Cheryl was
joined by poets reg E. gaines, Tony Medina, Jack Wiler
and Dan Shot in a kickoff literary event that welcomed her into the Long Shot
canon. Volume 23 arrived in the early
summer and featured work by Janine Pommy Vega, Nicholasa Mohr, reg E. gaines, Willie Perdomo,
Kimiko Hahn, and Eileen Myles. This issue was
highlighted by a section in which established poets introduced younger poets to
Long Shot readers. Among the participating poets were Keith Roach/felice bell, Jack Hirschman/Ashley Chambers, Alicia Ostriker/Daisy Fried, Anne Waldman/Lisa Jarnot,
Eileen Myles/Kathe Izzo,
Steve Cannon/Patrick Kosiewicz, Pedro Pietri/Roderigo Ortiz III, Bob Holman/John Rodriguez/Laurel
Barclay. This issue also included fantastic (literally and figuratively) art by
Joe Coleman and David Hochbaum.
The year 2000 also saw Nancy
Mercado take on the responsibility of Editor-in-Chief. Volume 23 was the first
issue of Long Shot with
Obviously, the year 2001 proved to be a
year unlike any we lived through. The September 11th terror attacks stopped us
in our tracks and it wasn't until 2002 that things began to regain a sense of
normalcy. February 2002 saw us christen Bob Holman's not quite ready for prime
time Bowery Poetry Club. We huddled together in the candle lit raw space to
celebrate the life and work of Gregory Corso. While
the temperature inside was frigid (and windy), the climate was warm and
inebriated as m.c. Andy
Clausen kept the show rolling. As I remarked on the occasion, the Bowery Poetry
Club would never ever feel the same and indeed it hasn't. It has metamorphosized into a luxurious poetry club that is as
comfortable as it is inviting. If you're out on the town, pay them a visit at
308 Bowery (between Bleecker and Houston), NYC or
visit the web site www.bowerypoetry.com
April 2002 also saw the publication of LIFT-OFF: New and Selected Poems of
Herschel Silverman 1961-2001. As the title suggests, this collection offers a
career retrospective of a uniquely talented poet's work. We published this book
as a joint venture with Water Row Books, but the collaboration has a larger
scope than that. In April 2001, a group of Mr. Silverman's fans agreed to
purchase the book in advance, sort of like when you were in grade school and
bought Scholastic Books and paid in advance. It was with this money that we
built momentum for this must read book of poetry.
As way of update, I give you an abridged version of the Editor's Notes
appearing in the back of Long Shot 25 which made its formal public debut on May
13, 2002 at the Bowery Poetry Club. We have a number of events planned to
commemorate our 20th birthday. Please visit our events page to keep abreast.
Editor’s Notes
This issue marks our 20th year in operation. We
originally were going to make a big deal out of it, but after the September
11th terror attacks it didn’t seem all that important. Nevertheless, we have
put together a terrific issue for your viewing and reading pleasure. You’ll
find the first 60 or so pages devoted to poets’ responses to the events of
September 11th. Initially, we weren’t sure how to proceed concerning events
that so many people (including us) felt strongly about. My two sons and I
watched in disbelief from our vantage point at
You’ll discover in our on 9/11 section fresh vital voices responding to the
tragic events of September 11th and its aftermath. What you won’t find is the
usual stale assortment of professional handwringers, obfuscators, and village
explainers (favored by corporate endowed foundations, arts organizations, and
university writing programs) who serve as our national conscience. There’s a lot of good poems about the events of September
11th and its aftermath out there. And a lot of bad ones.
Hopefully, we chose wisely. I hope you find our opening section engaging,
heartfelt, and thought provoking.
Of course two thirds of this issue is a regular rolliking
ole Long Shot rife with sex, sin, politics, pain, alienation, open wounds, the
scream of the marginalized soul, and ecstatic embrace of all that is living. I
tend to view each volume of Long Shot hollistically;
by that I mean I view each issue as a whole organic entity, with each piece of
art and writing complimenting the others, sort of like organic chemistry. I
guess. There’s a hell of a lot to chew on in this volume, so I’ll let you
discover
your personal favorites on your own. As always, I am particularly proud of the
artwork contained herein. Many thank yous go to the
Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Gallery in NYC for helping us out once again. At the
risk of sounding self indulgent, I’d like to tell you about a project I’ve been
working on which appears in these pages. It’s called Cafeteria and it’s a
graphic novel that has been created in collaboration with artist Cliff Tisdell. He draws the pictures, I write the words, mostly.
We have big plans for Cafeteria, but I figured what better place to debut our
creation than in the pages of Long Shot. We offer you the first four of many
panels as a way of introduction.
Let me tell you about our staff. As always we are in a state of flux. Nancy
Mercado is studying at SUNY Binghampton working on
her PhD. But thanks to the magic of electronics,
Looking back at our accomplishments over the past twenty years, I am
simultaneously filled with pride and humility. I am proud that a rag-tag group
of poets with no real source of capital has managed to produce a magazine that
gives a forum to voices who were previously
marginalized. Recently, I read a review that referred to us as venerable Long
Shot, and I had to laugh because I thought back to our punk rock roots (and our
rather dubious means of raising cash for our earliest self-printed volumes) and
I knew that our Long Shot bet had come in. I am humbled to have worked with so
many great people over the years, notably Eliot Katz (co-founder), Robert
Press, Joanne Lanciotti, Caren
Lee Michaelson, Jack Wiler,
Jessica Chosid, Tom Pulhamus,
Ernie Hilbert, David Stack, Mike Cote, and of course our current staff of
editors. I look forward to creating memorable issues of Long Shot for years to
come. See you in Volume 26. Enjoy!
– Danny Shot, Editor
Editor's Notes: After 20 plus years at the helm, I am leaving Long Shot. It’s
been a good run, but now it’s time to move on. I leave with feelings of relief
(Thank God, I can finally get on with my life and attend to other projects),
regret (it’s hard to quit on a good thing), and honor (for having had the
opportunity to work with so many talented and wonderful people). Besides,
rejecting the poetic outpourings of half the English speaking world has surely
taken its karmic toll upon my being. Long Shot was originally a young man’s
dream (2 young men actually), and alas, I am a middle aged man. And that is
good. Perhaps fresher and younger dreamers will forge a new path to build a
haven for the marginalized, underappreciated, and left out; as well as provide
a space (literally) where different writers from diverse backgrounds and
interests can comfortably hang out together. This has been Long Shot’s mission,
and I believe we succeeded admirably. Hopefully, a new generation of editors
will be able to pursue our mission without compromising their integrity; in
other words, without selling out. I leave with bittersweet memories, but also a
deep sense of honor for having had the privilege of working with so many
outstanding people. First the Long Shot stalwarts: Eliot Katz, Robert Press,
Andy Clausen, Nancy Mercado, Mike Cote, Lynne Breitfeller,
Greg Wieting, Magdalena Alagna,
Jack Wiler, Caren Lee Michaelson, Alicia Ostriker,
Ernie Hilbert, reg E. gaines,
Tony Medina, Amiri Baraka, Pedro Pietri,
Miguel Algarin, Tsaurah Litzky, Erik LaPrade, Eve Packer,
Herschel Silverman, Steve Dalachinsky, Paul Beatty,
Janine Pommy Vega, Edwin Torres, Hal Sirowitz, Lamont Steptoe, Jack Hirschman, Bruce Isaacson,
Brandi Merolla, Pili &
Javier, Bob Holman and many more who helped make our small independent magazine
a player in the American poetry scene. And those who’ve left us behind: Allen
Ginsberg, Charles Bukowski, Gregory Corso, Jack Micheline, Ray Bremser, June Jordan, Cookie Mueller, Lorri
Jackson, Charles Henri Ford. THANK YOU for gracing our pages. Now that I’ve sucked
the air out of the room, let me tell you the good news: This is an outstanding,
if slighty quirky and somewhat uneven issue of Long
Shot. You’ll find unpublished work by the late great William Burroughs as well
as an informative essay by Vojo Sindolic
about Willie B’s time in
Editor’s Notes
This is it, the last
issue of Long Shot. And what better way to go out than with a Beat Bush issue?
Our Guest Editor, Eliot Katz has worked tirelessly in assembling this issue and
it was wonderful working with him again. Thank You Eliot.
For me, this is an extremely satisfying way for Long Shot to bow out. We
received many outstanding submissions for this particular issue; it was a pity
we couldn’t include more. But at 224 pages, Volume 27 weighs in heavy enough as
it is. Thank you for your generosity of work, time, and spirit to all our
contributors who appear within these pages and within our consciousness. We
mourn the loss of Enid Dame who passed away this winter. Pedro Pietri, a friend and inspiration, left us in March. You’re
with us in spirit, amigo.
Admittedly, I’ve been in a state of denial these
past 3-1/2 years about George W. Bush even getting to be President. After all,
it’s not like he won the election. It was hard for me to get over the sense of
abandonment and disillusionment that people weren’t more outraged over the
hijacking of the 2000 Presidential election by the Supreme Court. Then the
terrorist attacks of September 11th happened and everything changed. In the
immediate aftermath of 9/11, we pulled together as a nation, as well we should
have. But our new found sense of purpose began to unravel rather quickly as our
Prez’s attention deficit syndrome led us into a war
with Iraq before we had completed the mission of diffusing the real terror threat
posed by Al Qaeda.
Now it’s 2004 and we need a new 44th President (Bushism intended) of the
Clearly, it’s past time
for a change, and maybe just maybe W. can be replaced. It is not a foregone
conclusion (I think) that the 2004 Presidential election is in the bag, so
please exercise your right to vote. There are a number of ways we can make our
voices heard, but it all starts with pulling a lever, pushing a button, marking
an X, or punching a chad (l.o.l.)
in November. Can Bush be beaten? Hopefully. Maybe this
time we can make a difference. Enjoy!
Danny Shot
Long Shot Magazine