don’t know how Marla got us a gig at the University of Illinois but that was some fast, easy, good money. Philip Graham was there and he was very encouraging. He bought an extra copy of The Unknown to send to Ralph Berry in Tallahassee. It was on account of Philip Graham that Scott and I met and I told him that then. Back one day in the early nineties when I was working in restaurants and writing like the Dickens, I stopped by Philip Graham’s office in the U of I English Building and he gave me a copy of Grand Street with a story by Krass-Mueller which had the phrase “Medieval California’s fluorescent basin” (something like that) and Philip Graham said “How would you like to study with this guy?”

Beats working, I thought, but I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want to taint my dear mentor Philip’s upcoming sabbatical.

We read at the Center for Advanced Study. Dirk spilled punch on Laurence Lieberman, but said it was an accident. The Schneerz people gave us a prize that we had to lie to get. Then we met for beer and discourse with Cary Nelson and Michael Bérubé, who had some interest in the project. Richard Powers was there too, he was very talkative. He invited us to lunch the next day at the Courier.