about my recent correspondence with one of my favorite living authors there is not so much to tell. can it even be called correspondence? i wrote and then he wrote. and that was it.

a few weeks ago I mentioned in a note to the wendell berry discussion group that my ap literature students were about to begin reading the novel a place on earth. one of our newer members, mike, wrote back to me that he had a copy of the first edition (1967) and he would be reading it again in solidarity with the class. i then wondered back if he could give some idea of the kind of material wberry had cut out - bits that might shed some light on the early history of port william, for instance. and then mike replied with an audacious and generous offer.

i say, audacious. he will compare both the first edition and the revised (1983) edition that the class is using, and he will record every change made from the first to the revision. he will send them to me, and i will set them up as web pages. this could be nothing other than a labor of love. when the first set of revisions came through, i was astonished bythe meticulous nature of mike's work. there was nary a typo. and here were revisions: a comma removed, a contraction expanded, a paragraph deleted, many paragraphs deleted. (you see, the first edition consisted of well over 500 pages and the revised edition is just over 300. so mr. b. had made some massive cuts.) and here it was. thanks to mike.

i recognized that there was a copyright issue and volunteered to seek the necessary permissions. in this letter.

Carmel High School
1 Carmel Parkway
Mundelein, IL 60060

October 16, 2001

Dear Mr. Berry,

The Advanced Placement Literature class that I teach here at Carmel High School is presently reading and discussing your novel, A Place on Earth. They have been intrigued by the large cuts made for your revision of 1983 and would like to explore the changes in closer detail. Such a study could be of great value to this group of highly motivated students.

While I do not personally have a copy of the 1967 edition, a friend does and has offered to undertake a transcription of changes between the two versions, i.e. material that you have excised in your revision process.

To make a study of your revisions possible for my class (and to conserve much paper in the process), I would like to post these transcriptions to the internet. This would involve the presentation of large sections of the 1967 edition which, of course, are not available in print elsewhere.

If you so required, it would be possible for me to limit access to these passages to my students alone; however, there is another side of this matter that I would ask you to consider separately from the request for my class. I am the moderator of a very small e-mail group that discusses your work. Several of the members have also expressed an interest in comparing the first and revised editions.

So this request contains two parts:

1) The class would be grateful for your permission to post substantial (excised) portions of the 1967 edition of A Place on Earth on the internet for student use;

2) I request permission to post this same material on the internet for wider access.

We will certainly abide by whatever decision you make and whatever other conditions you may wish to place on our use of this material.

I write in full awareness of - and respect for - the position you have taken regarding computers. I believe projects such as this one with my students go some small way towards justifying our use of this technology.

Whatever you may decide, please know that I hold a longstanding love of your work and the deepest respect for the integrity of your vision. One of the biggest thrills of my teaching life has been to introduce your art and thought to students who are hungry for the kind of meaningful, challenging, and coherent perspectives on life that your work offers. Many thanks for that goodness. And thanks for taking the time to consider this request.

Sincerely,

Br. Tom Murphy, O. Carm.
Carmel High School
Mundelein, IL

on thursday 10.25 i received a reply. in expedient paper-saving style, mr. berry had written at the end of my own letter,

10/22/01

Dear Br. Tom,
I'll agree to your 1st request, but for use of your class only.
Sincerely, Wendell Berry

and so. it appears that our grand project is done. maybe i didn't make the strongest case for allowing the material to be more widely used. maybe it wouldn't have mattered.

i haven't yet given the news to mike, but i can't see a reason for continuing to document revisions for the rest of the novel...if it is only for my class. it would be a massive undertaking, and we are only up to page 37 ... and that is probably enough for the class to see and study and ponder some of what has gone into the making of a great novel. we began that process today. some of the students were interested to see the note written by the hand that wrote the novel that most of them have come to love.

i'm disappointed, but i can understand mr. berry's decision. though i wish it had been otherwise, that's pure selfishness on my part. it is his work, not mine or mike's. so there.

In this world there are two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it. The last is much the worst.

Oscar Wilde