Tryst Editors

Barbara Meister, Patron Saint

Barbara Meister is a retired educator and taught the gifted program in the Ventura Unified School District for many years. She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Elementary Education and is the author of The Pear-Pair Tree, a children’s book about homonyms. Barbara worked as a travel consultant and travel writer and is presently President/CEO of Barber Ford-VW-Subaru-R.V.

A “community activist,” Barbara serves on numerous non-profit boards. She was a member of the Casa Pacifica Board of Directors for twelve years and is a past Secretary of the Board. Barbara is presently on the Casa Pacifica Advisory Board. She co-founded the Angels, a volunteer group serving Casa Pacifica, and served as its President. She was the recipient of Casa Pacifica’s prestigious “Guardian Angel” award. Casa Pacifica employee awards have been set up in memory of her late husband, Larry Meister.

Joan McCormick, Poetry Editor, Western Australia.

The time is flying, I can't believe it is four years since I moved to the Bush - kalgoorlie. Every day is more busy than the last, the city was so slow in comparison. So to you I say this-

We meet at junctions never crossed
And yet I know without a soul
No God can realize the cost
For them without a goal

Gail Otteson, Poetry Editor, Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

I'm currently reading the young adult series The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (a science fiction series set in an apocalyptic United States). I plan to move on to Barbara Kingsolver's, The Lacuna. Also on my shelf is the non-fiction title, The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson. I'll have to check out Mario Vargas Llosa also!

Diane Wiley, Fiction Editor, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

I just finished reading David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest. It was a wild ride, a veritable marathon, over 1000 pages in small type, with almost 400 endnotes, some of them 5 pages long, but you have to read them to get the story. Written in 1986 the story is set in the US, in the present, although totally degraded environment. The years are called by the name of the corporation that wins for the bidding rights, like some stadium. Giant fans blow air pollution toward Canada and there’s a whole section of New England that is a toxic garbage dump and has roving bands of escaped hamsters. There are terrorists in wheelchairs, the protagonist is an adolescent in a tennis academy in Boston. Wallace created a national Netflix (long before Netflix was even possible) on steroids which has lots of drug and alcohol addicts and various 12 step programs. It was a very engaging read, but I have to say the ending left me feeling that the “jest” was on me.

Dorothy Doyle Mienko, Poetry Editor, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Grief is such a long time. Sewing keeps me.
I remain content to have sewing in my life.
it is easy to become lost in the sheen of silk and threads and ribbons.

Time is lost in exact-tiny stitches.
I am not sure if the world closes me out or
if I am the one doing the closing.

Olga Grun, Translator/Editor, Harlingen, Texas.

Olga Grun's publishing credits include over 200 articles, multiple short stories, and poetic works published in five languages that she speaks. Her current writing interests range from romantic suspense novels to senryu to travel portraits. But her biggest aspiration is to make a difference in somebody's life, be it with one page - or one step toward a cure - at a time. For several years, she's been participating in Brenda Novak's Online Auction to Benefit Diabetes Research, held every May at http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com.

Mia, Tryst Editor, Wyoming.

Published in various, mostly-defunct, poetry journals, Tryst Editor, Mia is the curator of Tryst Online Poetry Journal, which ceased publication after a long hiatus. Tryst Poetry Journal will be updated periodically to keep up with the latest browsers and will remain available for archival purposes. Please do not try to contact any of the editors as there are no active Tryst email accounts.

Mittens, Tryst Mascot

Mittens died 23 August 2013 of complications due to old age - loss of balance, hearing, sight, incontinence. She was put to sleep in the comfort of her own bed, my bed.