FW: FYI: The Stephen M. Tomaske collection at the Huntington Library

[Krafft, John M.]

From: Gordon Tomaske [gdtomaske at sbcglobal.net]

...

Here is a review I placed on world cat, which lists Steve's collection:


I am Stephen's brother and contributed his research papers following his death in 2002.  After a great deal of effort our family determined that the Huntington Library was the ideal location for my brother's papers.  Some items of interest include:

- Copies of rare correspondence showing early edits of some of Pynchon's work

- Taped interviews with many of Pynchon's shipmates from his time in the US Navy.  My brother believed that many of the characters in Pynchon's novel V. may have been based on real people, specifically his shipmates in the US Navy.  Steve succeeded in making contacts with a number of people who served with Pynchon and remembered him.  In turn, many of the individuals interviewed seemed to be models for characters in V. (I believe they were known as "the Whole Sick Crew).  Steve was certain these men were the basis for characters in the novel.  Note that all of these interviews were taped with full knowledge and permission of the participants.

- Using Navy archives, Steve was able to determine the location of Pynchon's ship and, if memory serves, placed it in the Mediterranean during the Suez crisis where the crew would have seen the air raid on Malta.

This is the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, of the collection.  My brother believed very strongly in preserving Pynchon's privacy, and so he withheld much of what he had from disclosure.  In general, Steve refused to retain any information that was not academic.  For example, when provided with a copy of a purported Pynchon traffic citation, Steve promptly disposed of it.  Yes, this might have provided a vital clue to Pynchon's location at some point, but Steve believed strongly that some lines should not be crossed and that Thomas Pynchon desired a private life and deserved as much.

The collection includes a large body of material which, to our knowledge, has not been seen and will greatly illuminate those who wish to understand Pynchon's work.  I can assure Pynchon scholars that this is a goldmine.  Even so, there is, I hope, little to nothing in the collection that will compromise Pynchon's well earned right to live as most of us wish to, out of the public spotlight.

Regards,

G. Tomaske

http://www.worldcat.org/profiles/gtomaske/reviews/163049?reviewaction=fetchfull