Interview with Gray Zeitz, July 14, 2014

Partial Transcript: Okay, it's July 14th, 2014. I'm with Gray Zeitz at Larkspur Press in Monterey, Kentucky.

Segment Synopsis: Zeitz was born in Mobile, Alabama, and grew up in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. His father worked with a department store, then an insurance agency; his mother was a housewife. Zietz's brother later went into the insurance business. The arts were not really important to the family.

Keywords: New York Life Insurance; Price, Samuel Woodson; Turners Department Store; Zeitz, Joe (father); Zeitz, John (brother); Zeitz, Kay (mother)

Subjects: Elizabethtown (Ky).; Families.; Mobile (Ala.)

Partial Transcript: How do you--can you trace the beginning of your, of your own interest in the arts?

Segment Synopsis: Zeitz loved libraries from his boyhood on, both for the experience of reading and the physical experience of the books themselves. He began writing poetry in high school, influenced by a biology teacher who unabashedly wrote haiku. He spent two years at Elizabethtown Community College, where he received what he feels was a good education.

Keywords: Books; Elizabethtown Community College; Haiku; Libraries; Poetry

Subjects: Authors.; Childhood; Education; Education, Higher; Elizabethtown (Ky).; Writing

Partial Transcript: What made you decide to go on to UK?

Segment Synopsis: Zeitz studied at the University of Kentucky after earning a two-year degree from Elizabethtown Community College. He never earned a degree from UK; instead, he took classes from three teachers: Guy Davenport, Wendell Berry, and Carolyn Hammer, each of whom drew him further into the world of literature.

Keywords: Berry, Wendell; Davenport, Guy; Education; Hammer, Carolyn; History; Literature; Vietnam War

Subjects: Authors.; Education, Higher; University of Kentucky; Writing

Partial Transcript: So you, you mentioned the Red River Gorge and the efforts to save it that were going on at that time.

Segment Synopsis: Zeitz was a little young to get involved with the civil rights movement, but after arriving at the University of Kentucky, he became increasingly interested in working for environmental justice. He contributed to efforts to fight the Broad Form Deed by printing up announcements about an event in Whitesburg, Kentucky.

Keywords: Broad form deeds; Civil rights movement; Harrod, John; Racial justice; Racism; Red River Gorge

Subjects: Environmental protection; Environmentalism; Whitesburg (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: So what, what year was it that you arrived at UK?

Segment Synopsis: Zeitz discusses his founding of Handsel magazine and how he learned to use a press to create the publication. He talks about selling copies of the magazine and how it led to his desire to print books, especially those of Kentucky writers.

Keywords: Berry, Wendell; Books; Greene, Jonathan; Handsel magazine; Kentucky writers; Letterpress; Literary magazines; Printing techniques; Publishing; Taylor, Richard; University of Kentucky

Subjects: Authors; Printers.; Printing presses.; Printing.; Publishers and publishing.; Writing

Partial Transcript: Well, I'm, I'm interested in what you said earlier about, um, the, the civil rights movement and, and all--and how--and your growing awareness of that...

Segment Synopsis: Zeitz and his friends were interested in lives that preserved the well-being of people and places. This naturally was connected to an affinity for rural life. After a year or so at the University of Kentucky, he moved out to the country and started raising a garden; later he raised tobacco and calves. He's lived at his home in Monterey, Kentucky for 40 years, and has never wanted to leave.

Keywords: Agrarians; Cattle farming; Civil rights movement; Environmental movement; Farmers; Farms; Gardens; Monterey (Ky.); Printing presses; Rural culture; Tobacco farming; Work

Subjects: Country life; Farm life.; Rural conditions; Traditional farming--Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Did Wendell's work, um, make that process of embracing, um, this as home, uh, easier, or more, more rich, or deep in any way?

Segment Synopsis: Zeitz's studies with Wendell Berry, and his reading of Berry's work, enriched his appreciation of life in rural Kentucky, but he didn't make the choices he made because of Berry's influence. His two years of work with Carolyn Hammer at the University of Kentucky's King Library Press provided a foundation for his work that he still finds useful today.

Keywords: Berry, Wendell; English classes; Environmentalism; Hammer, Carolyn; Hammer, Victor; King Library Press; Literature; Merton, Thomas; Teachers

Subjects: Country life; Education, Higher; Environmentalism; Rural conditions; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: I think that there's something about Merton's presence in Central Kentucky at that time which, which, um--he drew people to him as, as well...

Segment Synopsis: The path that Zeitz has taken--his interest in Zen, literature, rural life, and printing--can be traced back to his time in community college. When he moved to Monterey, Kentucky, he lived in a house with no windows, electricity, or running water, on Severin Creek. That life was possible because he was single and childless at the time.

Keywords: Hammer, Carolyn; Merton, Thomas; Monterey (Ky.); Printing presses; Severin Creek; Zen

Subjects: Country life; Education, Higher; Environmentalism; Rural conditions

Partial Transcript: Did you have a clear idea at that time of, of how you wanted your business to--what, what kind of business you wanted to have?

Segment Synopsis: Zeitz had a clear idea from the time he established Larskpur Press of what kind of business he wanted it to be. He would print hand-set letterpress books that were affordable. He would also print a special edition that was more expensive: in this form, he could push his art. With one exception he has always had enough work.

Keywords: Books; Business; Economics; Larkspur Press; Letterpress printing; Merton, Thomas; Money; Poems; Poetry; Suzuki, D.T.; Taylor, Richard

Subjects: Printers.; Printing presses.; Printing.

Partial Transcript: Well, you know, people tell that to themselves, and then they worry anyway.

Segment Synopsis: Zeitz developed a particular technique for keeping worries at bay, which proved quite effective. Money was very tight during Larkspur Press's early years, but ultimately he and his wife, Jean, got by very well.

Keywords: Economics; Farming; Jobs; Larkspur Press; Money; Printing; Rubber bands; Work; Worries; Zeitz, Jean

Subjects: Printers.; Printing presses.; Printing.

Partial Transcript: How did you meet Jean?

Segment Synopsis: After moving to Monterey, Zeitz drove to Hardin County to pick up a little pig he was going to raise on a friend's farm. At that farm, covered in mud, he met his wife, Jean, for the first time. He reads a poem about their togetherness from his book "No Time Lost in Whetting."

Keywords: Bittner, Nancy; Butchers; Farming; Hardin County (Ky.); Hogs; Monterey (Ky.); No Time Lost in Whetting (book); Pigs; Poems; Poetry; Severin Creek; Zeitz, Jean

Subjects: Marriage; Traditional farming

Partial Transcript: Can you--was there a strong sense of community in Monterey at that time, that you, that you felt, uh--did you feel at home there?

Segment Synopsis: There was a strong sense of community in Monterey when Zeitz moved there in the 1970s. He and his friends worked hard and played hard, and helped each other. Over time, they won over the older, more established community members. Zietz never thought of himself as a hippie, and doesn't like the term; he encountered hippies while visiting Colorado who "weren't doing a thing," and he came back home and swore he'd never leave Kentucky again.

Keywords: Celebrations; Communities; Farmers; Hippies; Monterey (Ky.); Parties; Poems; Revising; Severin Creek; Work; Writing

Subjects: Country life; Farm life.; Rural conditions; Traditional farming--Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Were you writing a lot of poems in those days?

Segment Synopsis: Zeitz has never been prolific as a poet; he has published three books in the last 40 years. He feels that he is a much better printer and publisher than poet, so his priority is the former. He published his own first two books, because he believed few publishers could print them as well as he could; his third book, "No Fool, No Fun," was published by his friend Bob Baris, who he considers to be at least as good a printer as he himself is--possibly better.

Keywords: Baris, Bob; Finger Ridge (book); Larkspur Press; No Fool, No Fun (book); No Time Lost in Whetting (book); Poems; Press on Scroll Road; Publishing

Subjects: Authors and publishers.; Poetry; Printers.; Printing presses.; Printing.; Publishers and publishing.; Writing

Partial Transcript: I wanted to follow up on that time of despair.

Segment Synopsis: Zeitz pursues the work of some authors; others find him. Larkspur Press authors often live in rural areas, and that shows in their work. Zeitz also guesses that Larkspur's authors have to be somewhat settled in place partially because his publishing process takes so long--often two or three years for each book.

Keywords: Agrarians; Authors; Berry, Wendell; Books; Larkspur Press; Publishing; Rural writers; Taylor, Richard

Subjects: Authors and publishers.; Poetry; Printers.; Printing presses.; Printing.; Publishers and publishing.; Writing

Partial Transcript: We're--our drought has just been broken by a nice rain last night, but, uh, here's a poem about drought.

Segment Synopsis: Zeitz reads a poem that reveals the different perspectives of some urban dwellers vs. rural ones, and discusses changes in Monterey over the last few decades.

Keywords: Banks; Country people; Drought; Drugs; Education; Farmers; Floods; Monterey (Ky.); Monterey Fair; Poems; Rain; Rural communities; Rural people

Subjects: Country life; Farm life.; Rural conditions; Traditional farming--Kentucky