Signed Pynchon - last chance

[Doug Millison]

I'd trust the provenance of the copy from the school before something on
eBay, it's much easier to confirm from the school. That Pynchon's son
attended this church-affiliated school is beyond question; Pynchon's name
popped up in a school newsletter a couple of years ago; I had a copy of the
newsletter issue that mentioned young Jackson's father as the author of the
recently-published Mason & Dixon, which I passed along to a Pynchon scholar.
(I got the newsletter from a person who was then researching NYC schools
prior to enrolling his own children in one; he and his wife were considering
the school that turned out to be Jackson's.)

For those of you interested in Pynchon's biography and how it intersects
with his fiction, I think it's interesting to note that he has had his son
enrolled in a church-affiliated school.  In my personal experience such a
decision often reflects a parent's values vis-a-vis the particular church
that runs or has an affiliation with the school. In the case of a celebrity
parent like Pynchon, who would presumably be able to get his child into any
NYC private school, including those with no church affiliation, I assume
that the church affiliation may have something to do with his choice of this
particular school.  Other factors might come into play, of course.  But I
can't imagine somebody with strong antipathies to organized religion sending
a young child to a school with a significant religious affiliation.