Pynchon letters and AVA?

[Timothy C. May]

John M. Krafft wrote:

> I'm not saying I believe the WT letters were written by Pynchon: not having
> read them, I can't say.  Not having read them, I'm somewhat skeptical,
> in fact; but people who do seem qualified to judge tell me they think 
> P wrote the letters, so I want to read them.  If you want to too, see above.
> 

I also haven't read them, but there are some connections which may be
worth considering:

* The AVA also publishes Alexander Cockburn (pronounced Coe-burn), who
moved from the Aptos area--where I live and wehre it is rumored that
Pynchon lived for almost ten years--up to the Petrolia area of
Northern California. From Vineland country to Vineland country.

(No, of course I'm not suggesting Cockburn is Pynchon. I've heard
Cockburn, a Brit, speak, and he bears no resemblance to the
descriptions of TRP. Others reasons, too. Cockburn has a new book out,
which I've flipped through. He'll be speaking Tuesday night in Santa
Cruz....I doubt I'll be so bold as to ask him about this nexus,
though.)

* The AVA strikes me as exactly the sort of place Pynchon would send
letters to, assuming he was of such a mind to write letters.

* Much less solidly, a local columnist named Bruce Bratton was a
friend of Cockburn's, writes in the AVA sort of style (based on the
articles I've seen reprinted from the AVA), and once wrote in a local
weekly ("The Santa Cruz Express," circa late 80s) that he'd run into
Pynchon at a local party. I wouldn't be surprised if Pynchon and
Cockburn didn't know each other when both lived here.

* And note that the denuded hillsides and logging effects cited by TRP
in late '89 match the main interests of Cockburn in writing about
logging effects in "the Redwood Empire" and the battles between
Amazonian clear-cutters and the Indians/rubber tappers.

Hmmmhhh...same ecological/system themes, lived in same location at
same time, Cockburn a contributing writer for AVA, AVA in the heart of
"Vineland" country....

Nothing very conclusive, but Pynchon writing letters to the AVA seems
less odd than one might at first think.

--Tim May

-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | "I am not now, nor have I ever been, a member of
tcmay at netcom.com       | of a militia group."
Corralitos, CA         |  --Tim May's statement before the 1995 Hearings
                       |    of the House Un-American Activities Committee