Raymond Souster was “Up To Date” in 2007-2008

John Robert Colombo and I escorted Raymond Souster to The 2007 Toronto Book Awards. The ceremony was held at The Toronto Reference Library on Yonge Street just north of Bloor Street. The nominees all met in an area where there were refreshments, and then downstairs for Mayor Miller to make the announcement. Raymond did not win but he came away with a cheque for $1000, and his picture taken with the Mayor. The assembled multitude then adjourned to the refreshments once again, and the three of us met Geoffrey James one of the other nominees. Geoffrey had know and admired Souster’s work for many years, and accepted the offer to creat cover photographs for Souster’s next series of New Poetry volumes. I was much relieved I had travelled around the city of Toronto trying to snap suitable photos to use on the cover, all with a singular lack of success; Donna Dunlop had also taken some pictures, and while they were much better than mine, but they were still a very distant second best to Geoffrey’s offer. I got a complete set of page proofs to Geoffrey as soon as possible, and he noted that a wrap around cover with two French Flaps would have a proportion of 12×5, and what you see below is the result. The four photographs speak for themselves, but I will add captions underneath.

Raymond Souster is “Getting Ahead”

If you are reading Ray’s poetry for the first time, I would like to offer a few lines of alleged insight. You will find two or three new poems per page, but sometimes up to six! Some are similar and the themes – comments on life, war, governments, the homeless, the underdog, the environment, acquaintances, baseball, friends, writing poetry and especially the infirmities old age, and also Mother Nature just outside his side door of his kitchen on Baby Point Road where he sits every day at the age of 87 and writes his poems every day. Some poems in this book were composed in November 2008.

Ray writes with the assistance of a C.N.I.B writing template in successive notebooks. These notebooks are transcribed by Donna Dunlop and passed along to me on disk.

Beware of the charming simplicity of his writing! Don’t look for a double meaning in his writing and certainly don’t try and complicate the message which you will receive with a less than 30 second read of an individual poem.

Read a dozen poems, and I am confident that you will find, as I have found countless times in preparing this collection, that Ray has something to say, and he will influence your thinking with a poem that sneaks up on you with a profundity that will pleasantly surprise you. Contemplate and savour this kernel of wisdom in your mind’s eye for a moment, and then read another dozen or so, and then – the same thing happens once again. — George A. Vanderburgh, Lake Eugenia, December 2008

"Mount Pleasant Cemetery" by Geoffrey James

"Chagrin River, Ohio" by Geoffrey James

"Scarborough Bluffs, G.T.A." by Geoffrey James

"Lane behind Westmoreland Ave., Toronto" by Geoffrey James

The first two volumes appeared in 2008, and the last two appeared in 2009. More details available on the website.