Danny Allen, drawing of a satyr, drawn on November 13th 1972. India ink on bond. Collection of Don Millinger and Gary Clinton.
I leave for Rochester, New York two weeks from today. My dog, Winnie has live-in dog sitters in place, and I’m trying to figure out how to pack “light” so I don’t have to check any luggage during the flight. Only I would book a flight for the Ides of March, and return on jolly old St Patty’s Day. But even as I’m writing this, An Early Work Late in Life is being printed and made ready for the bindery. The first, advanced copies will go to the Rochester Memorial Art Gallery at 500 University Ave. Rochester NY 14607. The book will have an exclusive sales presence there for the first month or more before there’s a wider release. I made the decision to do that, because so much of the book and the story it tells, centers on that very special museum in that very special city—so it seemed only right for them to get first dibs.
KickStarter pledge donors who selected books as an incentive will get their copies either shortly after the opening or simultaneous to the opening depending on the speed of production. I’m going up to visit Rochester so that I can attend the exhibit: It Came From the Vault, which features Danny Allen’s remarkable little painting, Sunny Ducks along with a number of rarely seen treasures from the museum’s collection. The Patron’s Preview is on Saturday, March 16th, and the show opens to the general public on Sunday, March 17th.
– Bill Whiting
An Early Work Late in Life 