Just Published: Merlin Stone Remembered

Last April I was asked to write what is known in the book trade as a “blurb,” or “endorsement” of a work-in-progress planned to be published as a remembrance of Merlin Stone and centered around the remembrances of Merlin’s life partner of 34 years, Lenny Schneir. A few months later the book was acquired by Llewellyn Worldwide. It has now been published with the authors listed as David B. Axelrod, Carol F. Thomas, and Lenny Schneir. A quote from my blurb is included among the many endorsements printed in the beginning and on the back cover of this book. As is common when a publisher has received many endorsements, they used only one line from most blurbs, including mine. I’d like to share with you here my entire blurb for the book, Merlin Stone Remembered, and also give you a little more of an idea of what the book contains.

“This book is a lovely and loving tribute to the late Merlin Stone, a foremother of Goddess feminism, author, sculptor, and professor of art history. Remembering Merlin Stone includes a beautiful and revealing memoir by her life partner, poet and poker player Lenny Shneir, along with his poetry, previously unpublished material by Stone, pictures, and other treasures by a number of contributors. What a gift to those of us familiar with Stone’s work, as well as those who want to know more about her life, both personal and professional.”

--Judith Laura, author of Goddess Spirituality for the 21^st Century: From Kabbalah to Quantum Physics
 
The book also includes a preface, essay, and epilogue by Carol Thomas; an editor’s note, poem, and several essays by David Axelrod; a long introduction by Gloria Orenstein, placing Stone’s work in the context of work that came before and was contemporaneous with hers; excerpts from Stone’s writing--published and unpublished--including chapter 10 of When God was a Woman, “Unraveling the Myth of Adam and Eve”; letters from admirers (mostly unattributed) including one (attributed) from Robert Kennedy in a section on Stone’s sculpture; and an essay by Cynthia Stone Davis. The book also has many illustrations.