S T A F F Go-publishers Julie Ristau, Lenny Dee Editorial Board Lenny Dee, Diane Hellekson, David Morris, Julie Ristau, Karen Starr, Charlie Sugnet, Jay Walljasper Pacific Northwest Editor David Milholland Art Direction Lenny Dee Design Direction Gail Swanlund Cover Design Connie Gilbert Designers Connie Gilbert, Kim Klein, Gail Swanlund, Eric Walljasper Contributing Artists Leah Anton, Harriet Bart, Gabriele Ellertson, John Kleber, Robert Lawrence, Joe McDonnell, Stuart Mead, Dave Rathman, Sandra Taylor, Jeff Wilcox, Karen Wirth Proofreader Ann Laughlin Account Representative Dale Shifter Typesetting JeZac Typesetting Production Jay Miller Spiritual Advisor Camille Gage Terrapin Presto Log Lynda J. Barry Thanks to thee Brian Ahlberg, Barrie Borich, Tom O’Connell, Kathy Donahue, William Casper, Margy Ligon, Jennifer Gage, Jim Hare, Pegatha Hughes, Thomas B. Morgan, Judi Ray, Bruce Rowan, Carol Salmon, Linda Schinitz, COMPAS ON THE COVER This is a fairly accurate representation of Polly Kiesel who made the piece on the cover which is called We’ve Created a Monster!. For those who may not have noticed, Polly was gone for a while but is now back. She is represented in Minneapolis by Thomas Barry Fine Arts and will be showing her work there from February 25th through April 1st. We’ve Created a Monster! © 1987 Polly Kiesel. Vol. 11 No. 1 Spring, 1989 Subscriptions $10 a year. 212 3rd Ave. N., Suite 300 Minneapolis, MN 55401 The Twin Cities edition is published by the Clinton St. Quarterly, 212 3rd Avenue N., Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55401 —(612) 338-0782. Unless otherwise noted, all contents copyright 1989 Clinton St. Quarterly. We encourage your comments, articles and art. All material should be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Report from El Dorado— Michael Ventura Visions of American culture as seen from the bright lights of Las Vegas. The Fabric of Memory: Nigerian novelist and storyteller Chinua Achebe is interviewed by Bill Moyers. A world renown literary figure talks about the music of history. The Gustav Mahler Story— Joe McDonnell Everything you always wanted to know about the Austrian composer. Each morning brings us more screaming headlines of a violent world out of control. Riots in Venezuela, street combat in Washington D.C., armored vehicles attacking crack houses in North Minneapolis — day after day another corner of the globe seems to go up in smoke. This widespread epidemic of violence makes one skeptical about our ability to ever make sense of it all. Yet if we look closely at all this seemingly random violence, a pattern does seem to emerge. Venezuela rumbles when it is forced by US banks to tighten an economy that already is devoting over one third of its budget to paying off foreign debt. Such activity has cost Venezuelan consumers 35 percent of their purchasing power since the early 1980’s. Meanwhile, American inner cities rumble when the drug industry becomes the only viable economy. According to our own state department, global production of drugs is sharply increasing due to the political instability and economic need of many Third World nations. Here at home the demand for drugs conThe Sacred Carved Cheese Crosses of Koblentz— Tim Miske A tale guaranteed to rile any television preacher. 18 Highway 61 Revisited, Revisited— Greil Marcus The myth of the open road in rock ’n’ roll. Were we really born to run? Private Parts— Stephanie Ericsson An ovarian odyssey to pregnancy. tinues to escalate despite official exhortations to just say no. It appears that our attempts to remedy both problems have failed. After all, weren’t Third World development loans and the war on poverty valid attempts to improve these situations? Unfortunately not — most Third World loans have gone to a tiny corrupt elite, who pocketed huge kick- backs, invested in inappropriate industrial development models or wasted millions on an already bloated military. The US economy has gone through similar shortsightedness as our elite has prospered while a huge underclass has mushroomed. While our military plays with a kings ransom of war toys, our bridges, transit systems, highways and cities themselves continue to crumble. Indeed, the one recent attempt to fight poverty at home actually succeeded far greater than we remember. From 1964 to 1969 the number of impoverished people was reduced by one-third through social programs that cost only a tiny fraction of the money spent in Vietnam. The millions of poor over the world are potentially an enorClinton St. Gallery— Art inspired by books, by five artists featured in “volumes,” an exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. 32 The Greening of America — Jay Walljasper Are American politics taking on a new environmentalist hue? Golden Fries Home— Jim Blashfield Don’t you owe it to yourself and your family to find out more? mous market, who if given the chance would eagerly buy enough goods to boost any malfunctioning economy. Were we to set an example by raising the incomes of people on the lower end of the economic spectrum, all classes would benefit from the release of this latent demand. To fail to do so will inevitably lead to more of the violence we read about in headlines each morning. * * * * Recently the CEO of Time Inc. predicted that within the next decade the communication world will consist of up to eight media giants — and that they intended to be one of them. Their recent merger with Warner Communications to form the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world is a harbinger of things to come. The CSQ is an attempt to fight this conglomeration of information sources. If you appreciate our efforts in this regard please consider taking out a subscription or sending a small contribution to help us improve Clinton St. Quarterly. —Lenny Dee Clinton St. Quarterly—Spring, 1989 3
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