HA&L Biographical Sketch
He was the cream of our Southmount high school graduating class, but he didn't graduate. The final straw leading to expulsion had to do with three strands of Charmaine's luxuriant hair lassoed to three flies. Charmaine was an accomplice, not a victim. Later, at art school, everyone knew who he was. Everyone. He was the first to achieve escape velocity. Those of us who could not achieve escape velocity now play a game called: What Couldn't Mavrinac Do? The start of the game usually begins with its inverse: Could Mavrinac play with the Rolling Stones? Sure. Keith already gave him the nod. Could Mavrinac fix my roof/pen/internal combustion engine/zippo/ parachute/bunsen burner/carillon/faldstool/mantel/broom/valise/ catamaran/brakes/pressure cooker/fiddle/net/sextant/pontoon? When do you need it by? If the building suddenly caught fire, could Mavrinac carry us all to safety? He would be more likely to throw us all to safety. And so, what couldn't Mavrinac do? Well, he has a thing about dentists, but if push came to shove, and you needed that molar out of your head -- Bob's your uncle. Marv's your cousin. Griselda's your maiden aunt. Well, he couldn't have written any of Shakespeare's plays, because that was a long time ago... And the referee calls a penalty, because when you play What Couldn't Mavrinac Do? it is against the rules to predate the Mavrinac. There is, however, another game called What Did Mavrinac's Ancestors Do? The dictionary definition of Mavrinacian reads: To act in the manner of Mavrinac; that is, to be steadfast, loyal, kind and gentle. To slide hard into second. To rub behind the ear of deserving cats and throw the stick until the big dog is happily worn out. To turn the guitar up really loud when rockin' and down a bit when rollin'. What a burdensome introduction to a man of simple wants and needs. A man who lives in a restored chicken coop beside a fjord in Denmark with fishin' rods ready at the front door. He records songs there. Hundreds of them. When he goes to work in Copenhagen, he might have to wrangle mermaids, defuse a charmingly wound-up Joachim Phoenix, and get the movie camera to places it wasn't meant to get to. [This HA&L biographical sketch and introduction © 2008 Ephemerists.] from issue two 2009The Editor was recently in Budapest, and had the privilege of taking part in an event at the Hungarian Writers Association. The Association is housed in a beautiful building in a beautiful neighborhood. There is a bar inside, (these are writers, after-all). At some point the Editor was asked to explain the affiliation between Hamilton Arts & Letters and Samizdat Press. This is what he should have said: In another decade the Editor was studying for an exam. Mavrinac called and asked if he wanted to go for a coffee. Yes. He needed a break. Next thing the Editor knows, he is crossing the border into the United States. Actually, the car is stopped at the border. There are dogs. Vicious dogs with exceptionally healthy teeth. Better teeth than anyone in the Editor's family going back generations. Mark rubs the ears of the dogs. He tells the border guards that we, (meaning he and the Editor), are going for coffee. He tells them the Editor is studying for an exam and, "we don't really have a lot of time." They open the gates. The dogs whimper as the car drives away. A number of hours later the car skims the blacktop and is back in Canada. A black & white flashes its lights. Mark pulls over and rolls the driver side window down half an inch. The officer speaks through the slit in the window: "Licence." Mark hands the licence through the slit, the officer looks at it and says, again through the slit: "How many beers are in the car Mark?" And Mark says, through the slit: "I didn't count them, officer." Okay, if we stop right there, that is everything the Editor needed to say in Budapest about Samizdat Press. Now the rest of the story. The officer says: "Step out of the car please." Then he empties the unopened beers into the gutter at the side of the road. Next thing, Mark is sitting in the black & white and the Editor can see him and the cop lighting each other's cigarettes. They smoke two cigarettes each. Mark gets back in the car and pulls away. He tells the Editor that Bill, (the officer), used to fly in the planes looking for speeders, but he didn't like being that far away from the action. Samizdat Press. Okay, how about this one. The Editor goes to meet Mark at his mother's apartment. It's dark and there are candles. Mark and his mother sit at a small table. She is playing her mandolin. Mark is playing a twelve string guitar. They are singing Russian songs. There's a bottle of vodka between them and it is two thirds gone. Sometimes they weep as they sing. Okay, how about this one. During the Second World War, Mark's mother led a big orchestra in Toronto -- guitars, mandolins, violins. The Editor has seen the pictures. She is standing on the podium, baton in one hand, balalaika in the other. She is tall, beautiful, with a glittering black gown. In another picture she is at a table surrounded by Russian sailors. They are Ga-Ga, slack-jawed, elbows-on-the-tables. They're happy. For one thing, they're not dead. It's the Second World War, and they've probably just sailed across the Atlantic, and "Hey look! We're not dead!!" And they're sitting with Mark's mom. This was and is the affiliation between Hamilton Arts & Letters and Samizdat Press. And, you know, who else cared? Blood will tell. [This HA&L biographical sketch and introduction © 2009 Ephemerists.] from an email, September 2009I grew up beside Lundy's Lane in Niagara Falls, Ontario. As a young historian, I collected bits of arrow-heads, fragments of artillery, buttons and coins along the base of that 1814 Battleground and proudly presented them to the little museum in my neighbourhood. ...so instead of every day going foward ...every day begins to go backward.
Now, enjoy Mark Mavrinac's Bibliomania 4 [4] sponsored by Tucker: Rubber Stamps & Fountain Pens, acknowledged with thanks by the Editor and Samizdat Press. |
Mark Bio 2
Embark [from a place of refuge] Vik-Bib [will assist you] issue two.1 [Fall 2009] Contact [complete the circuit] Sponsors [enlightened] |
