August 18, 2008

Irving Feldman’s 80th birthday:

We were all just kids. Wasn’t it just yesterday (1961, I believe) that Irving came to Cleveland to read in the Hart Crane Memorial series that Mac organized?

And wasn’t it just yesterday that Mac and I and Anna, then just a year old, drove from Cleveland to Gambier and met Carmen and Fernando for the first time—Fernando, a magic child running free and beautiful in the woods near their house.

Well, it wasn’t yesterday, but the memories of friendship, both close and distant in our Buffalo years, resonate and are there. So, Irving, on the occasion of your birthday, along with Max, Anna, and Ross, I send a happy birthday greeting. Were Mac here, he probably would try to write an occasional poem, give up, and simply send a “heart” felt birthday wish.

Love, Katka