Donation

I spent a large chunk of the afternoon sorting and packing three large cartons of Pagan magazines dating back to the 1970s. They will be donated to the American Religions Collection at Davidson Library, University of California-Santa Barbara.

My book on the first decades of American Paganism is with the publisher. I sent in one draft last spring, it went to two outside reviewers, and I spent the summer revising it in light of the reviewers’ comments. Now another editor is reading the revised ms., but I feel fairly confident that she will pass it. Finally.

And at any rate, these cartons of materials were not critical to my research. Some materials I am holding back for possible further use.

But in the long run, I am not in the archive business. If the special-collections librarian with whom I am dealing wants more, I could send him another four, five, or maybe six cartons, easily.

On one level this is a happy milestone, but on another, it feels spooky. I suppose I feel that way because in the last 18 months I have spent too much time disposing of my late parents’ belongings, and now I want to shout, “I’m not dead yet,” like the character in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.