Letter to the editor on my memoir, I, Poet

I suspect that David Bromige wrote this rather terse unsigned poison pen letter to the editor. He never really liked me and often put me down, or thwarted my plans while I was a student of his at Sonoma State. Allergic to no, I took the bit in my teeth and ran with it, which made him even more cantankerous. We eventually kissed and made up but it took a decade or two.

Dear James Carroll,

Someone should tell Maureen Hurley that the line she attributes to Keats in her “I, Poet” article is both misquoted and Wordsworth. Maybe you should. Maybe you should have before the piece was published – to save embarrassment and preserve credibility. And wouldn’t it would be better to ask your writers to follow their articles with their credits (Joe Blow’s book was published, etc.) or (in the third person) – rather than incorporate them in the text, (I, I, I,) where it appears narcissistic – just a thought.

                —A Reader

Otherwise a nice piece.

• I, Poet

• David Bromige 1933-2009