Prepared by Barbara Bass and Cara Gilgenbach, December 2004
4 record storage boxes, 4 cubic feet, 11th floor
Biographical Note [written by Tom Kryss]
Tom Kryss was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1948 and attended high school in
Garfield Heights, where for a time he edited the school newspaper, established
a literary magazine, and worked in the layout department of a local suburban
weekly. In the summer of 1966, before his departure for the Medill School of
Journalism at Northwestern University, he came into contact with the bookseller
James Lowell and the poet d.a.
levy; and began to entertain the idea of self-publishing works of poetry.
On campus at Northwestern he collection material for an independent literary
magazine, and left school to earn money to publish it. In Chicago and Bensenville,
Illinois, he met the independent publisher Douglas Casement and the poet Douglas
Blazek, and observed first hand the production of their poetry magazine, broadsides,
and chapbooks, via letterpress and mimeograph. It was through Casement's Fenian
Head Center Press that he learned the rudiments of making serigraphs and incorporating
them into hand-assembled books.
In 1967 he left Chicago to assist the defense fund efforts of Lowell and levy
in Cleveland, who were under indictment by local authorities for the selling
and dissemination of alleged obscene poetry. A mimeograph and silkscreen materials
were purchased, and a collection of testimonials in behalf of Lowell, gathering
anti-censorship discourse from American authors such as Charles Olson, Hubert
Selby Jr., Charles Bukowski, Mitchell Goodman, Denise Levertov, Dwight McDonald,
James Laughlin, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jonathan
Williams, and others, was published, with proceeds ploughed into Lowell's defense
fund. In 1968, with rjs, the lone non-posthumous collection of the work of the
poet d.a. levy was published, gathering another crosscurrent of testimonial.
By this time the indictments were being quietly dropped, and the proceeds of
the levy anthology were earmarked for the levy Offense Fund.
As a conscientious objector at the start of the Vietnam War, Kryss worked at
St. Mary's Hospital in San Francisco, and later in a corporate mailroom, to
support the production of books relating to the censorship and oppression of
poets in Cleveland, California, and New York. After his return to Cleveland
and marriage in 1970, he continued to print and make poetry books outside, or
at the edge, of the publishing mainstream; illustrating them with his serigraphs
and those of his wife, Carolyn. Conceived as economical, low-tech illustrations
for books, these hand-produced serigraphs were circulated as covers and inserts
in other small-press publications of the time, in Cleveland and across the country.
Under his Ghost, Cold Mountain, and Black Rabbit Press imprints (1966-2004)
he set his hand to producing editions of the poetry of such authors as Kent
Taylor, Douglas Blazek, Howard McCord, Al Purdy, and D. R. Wagner. His collection
of rabbit drawings, Krulik Kisiega, planned as an Ayizan Press publication
by levy, was brought out by Cleveland author and publisher Steve Ferguson under
the Ayizan Press imprint in 1970, two years after levy's death. His youngest
daughter, Hilary, an artist and writer, remains the designated and occasionally
perplexed illustrator to his own writing. A selection of his work, spanning
the decades, was issued by Bottom Dog Press in 2006.
Scope and Content
The Tom Kryss papers consist of correspondence and manuscript material from
John Bennett, Douglas Blazek, Charles Bukowski, Lou Delpino, Morris Edelson,
Peter Finch,Vince Gagnon, Bill Hagerman, Darrell Kerr, d.a. levy, James Russell
Lowell, Howard McCord, Miriam Patchen, Robert J. Sigmund (rjs), Kent
Taylor, David R. Wagner, Richard Wolter, and many others. In addition, the collection
contains the archive of the Allegheny Star Route anthology edited by
Kryss and a newspaper clipping file on the Cleveland poetry scene of the 1960's
and 1970's.
The collection is arranged alphabetically by correspondent, then chronologically
by date. Most of the correspondence dates from the late 1960's and early 1970's,
but much is also undated. The newspaper clippings collection and other miscellaneous
materials can be found at the end of the collection, filed after the correspondence.
Special Collections and Archives also holds an extensive collection of Kryss's
published works, cataloged in KentLINK.
Box 1
Folder -- Contents
Correspondence: Asselin, Sharon: May 11, 1972
Correspondence: Baxter: Sept. 18, 1972
Correspondence: Bennet, John M.: May 2, 1974
Correspondence: Bennett, John M. July 23, 1974
Correspondence: Bennett, John M.: June 10, 1975
Correspondence: Bennett, John M.: June 30, 1975
Correspondence: Bennett, John M. July 16, 1975
Correspondence: Bennett, John M.: Sept. 3, 1975
Correspondence: Bennett, John M.: Sept. 6, 1975
Correspondence: Bennett, John M.: Sept. 6, 1975
Correspondence: Bennett, John M.: Sept. 15, 1975
Correspondence: Bennett, John M.: Sept. 30, 1975
Correspondence: Bennett, John M.: Oct. 17, 1975
Correspondence: Bennett, John M.: Oct. 28, 1975
Correspondence: Bennett, John M.: Nov. 12, 1975
Correspondence: Bennett, John M.: [no date]
Correspondence: Bennett, John M.: [no date]
Correspondence: Bennett, John M.: [no date]
Correspondence: Bertholf, Robert: May 19, 1973
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Oct. 9, 1966
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Oct. 16, 1966
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Nov. 15, 1966
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Nov. 19, 1966
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Dec. 10, 1966
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Dec. 30, 1966
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Jan. 6, 1967
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Mar. 30, 1967
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Apr. 29, 1967
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: May 28, 1967
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: June 16, 1967
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: July 6, 1967
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Aug. 2, 1967
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Aug. 9, 1967
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Aug. 19, 1967
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Sept. 6, 1967
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Sept. 19, 1967
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Oct. 4, 1967
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Nov. 8, 1967
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Jan. 7, 1968
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Jan. 17, 1968
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Mar. 19, 1968
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Apr. 4, 1968
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Sept. __, 1968
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Oct. 2, 1968
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Oct. 24, 1968
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Nov. 19, 1968
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Dec. 14, 1968
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Dec. 18, 1968
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Dec. 24, 1968
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Jan. 3, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Apr. 14, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Apr. 29, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: May 23, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: May 26, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: June 4, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: June 10, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: July 11, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: July 15, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: July 26, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: July 30, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Aug. 19, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Aug. 31, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Sept. 9, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Sept. 15, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Sept. 22, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Oct. 17, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Oct. 25, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Nov. 9, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Nov. 11, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Dec. 22, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Dec. 27, 1969
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Jan. 10, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Jan. 20, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Jan. 28, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Feb. 2, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Feb. 8, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Feb. __, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Apr. 4, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Apr. 9, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Apr. 13, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Apr. 20, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Apr. 26, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: May 20, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: June 12, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: June 24, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: June 30, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: July 6, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: July 15, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Aug. 2, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Aug. 16, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Aug. 29, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Sept. 30, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Sept. 14, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Oct. 9, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Oct. 16, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Oct. 26, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Nov. 1, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Dec. 6, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Dec. 23, 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: 1970
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Jan. 8, 1971
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Apr. 7, 1971
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: May 16, 1971
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: July 1, 1971
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: [July] 6, 1971
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: July 8, 1971
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: July 17, 1971
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: July 18, 1971
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: July 28, 1971
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Aug. 2, 1971
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Aug. 8, 1971
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Aug. 10, 1971
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Nov. 10, 1971
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Jan. 31, 1972
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Feb. 10,1972
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Mar. 21, 1972
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: June 12, 1972
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Aug. 4, 1972
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Sept. 13, 1972
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Sept. 20, 1972
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Oct. 12, 1972
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Aug. 26, 1973
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Sept. 18, 1973
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Feb. 20, 1975
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: May 24, 1975
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Sept. 5, 1975
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Sept. 30, 1975
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: Oct. 30, 1975
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: [no date]
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: [no date]
Correspondence: Blazek, Douglas: [no date]
Correspondence: Blazek, Harry: [no date]
Correspondence: Bloom, Gene: Apr. 17, 1969
Correspondence: Bloom, Gene: Dec. 14, 1970
Correspondence: Bloom, Gene: Aug. 15, n.y.
Correspondence: Bloom, Gene: [no date]
Correspondence: Bloom, Gene: [no date]
Correspondence: Bloom, Gene: [no date]
Correspondence: Bloom, Gene: [no date]
Correspondence: Bloom, Gene: [no date]
Correspondence: Bloom, Gene: [no date]
Correspondence: Bloom, Gene: [no date]
Correspondence: Brown, Harvey: [no date]
Correspondence: Buhle, Paul: [no date]
Correspondence: Bukowski, Charles: [no date]
Correspondence: Bukowski, Charles: [no date]
Box 2
Folder -- Contents
Correspondence: Casement, Doug and Kathy: Apr. 8, 1967
Correspondence: Casement, Doug and Kathy: Oct. 7, 1968
Correspondence: Casement, Doug and Kathy: Sept. 1, 1970
Correspondence: Casement, Doug and Kathy: [no date]
Correspondence: Casement, Doug and Kathy: [no date]
Correspondence [cards, artwork, notes]: Wolter Richard
Miscellaneous correspondence, to/from T. L. Kryss
Cards [including some Christmas cards designed and printed by Kryss]
Miscellaneous printed items [by and about levy, rjs, Kryss, Kent Taylor,
Jim Lowell, etc.], [late 1960's]
Miscellaneous documents, flyers
Newspaper clippings [includes clippings about arrests of d.a. levy and Jim
Lowell, levy's death, the Ghost Press, and other Cleveland poetry scene events
and individuals], [late 1960's]