My heart rouses
      thinking to bring you news
            of something
that concerns you
      and concerns many men. Look at
            what passes for the new.
You will not find it there but in
      despised poems.
            It is difficult
to get the news from poems
      yet men die miserably every day
            for lack
of what is found there.

I’ve never known what Williams meant by “news” – was it a play on the word “new?” If someone had the inclination or ambition to write me an essay, or an editorial, I’d welcome it. But whatever Williams was alluding to, I understood the poem better if “news” were replaced with “truth.” I have found that “truth,” while subjective, is only a matter of degree, such as how much light is shed upon the subject and what meaning one derives from it.

http://www.zcommunications.org/coups-unasur-and-the-u-s-by-noam-chomsky

What it is: A morbid fear of being touched.

Word history: Haptein is a Greek word that means to fasten (that is, to bring two things together).

Bonus points: Haptics is the English word for “a science concerned with the sense of touch,” used in technologies like touch-screen displays that let users feel clicks.

#2: Doraphobia

What it is: The dread of touching the skin or fur of an animal.

Word history: The Greek word dora means “the skin or hide of an animal.”

Bonus points: The root word dora comes from the Greek verb derein, meaning “to skin or to flay.” This is also the source of derm, the Greek word for skin, which shows up in words like “dermatology”.

#3: Eremophobia

What it is: The morbid dread of being alone.

Word history: The Greek word erēmia means desert (a place where there are no other people).

Bonus points: The word hermit shares the same Greek root, but a hermit may find solace rather than dread in solitude.

#4: Ergophobia

What it is: A fear of or aversion to work.

Word history: Ergon is the Greek word for work.

Bonus points: This word shows a family resemblance to the words ergonomic and ergometer.

#5: Hypnophobia

What it is: The morbid fear of sleep.

Word history: Hypnos is the Greek word for sleep.

Bonus points: Hypnotize is a word that shares the same Greek roots.

#6: Brontophobia

What it is: An abnormal fear of thunder.

Word history: Bronto is from the Greek word that means thunder.

Bonus points: The same root gives us the name of the brontosaurus (literally, “thunder lizard”).

#7: Kakorrhaphiophobia

What it is: An abnormal fear of failure.

Word history: The Greek word kakorrhaphia means a clever or devious plot or plan, derived from kakos, meaning bad or evil.

Bonus points: The English word cacophony shares the same Greek roots.

#8: Ophidiophobia

What it is: An abnormal fear of snakes.

Word history: Ophis is the Greek word for snake.

Bonus points: Two other English words with similar roots are ophiomorphic, meaning “snakelike in form” and ophiophagous, which means “feeding on snakes.”

#9: Taphephobia

What it is: Fear of being buried alive.

Word history: The Greek word taphē means burial or grave.

Bonus points: You can see the same Greek root in the English word epitaph (an inscription on a tomb).

#10: Phobophobia

What it is: An excessive fear of acquiring a phobia.

Word history: The Greek word phobos means “fear or flight.”

Bonus points: When there’s nothing left to fear but fear itself, this word is the perfect double whammy of the Greek word for fear.

This spot will be reserved for interesting articles found on the web, site reviews, musings. For now, the bulk of the pages are finished with the exception of Jim’s Corner, which has been replaced with Pushcart. Jim McCurry’s work has been archived which you can access by clicking HERE. There’ll be more book reviews. I hope I don’t have to redesign for another ten years. Ack! The formatting was gruesome. I won’t be writing up many posts here; I don’t have that much to say and not that much time. But it would be good to check in once in a while to see if there’s anything going on at Tryst, on the web, in the world. I’ll keep you posted.

Oh and the image to the left is one of my favorite Front Entrance Logos created for Tryst by Victoria Perelet, 2005: http://victoriasphoto.com/

I chanced on your site while searching for information on a book called Tryst and found a wonderful review written by someone on your staff. I couldn’t find a name anywhere and I would very much like to communicate with the author. Can you send me any additional information? Thank you so much for your attention.

Saundra F. Cooper, Ph.D.

August 6, 2009

Dear Editor,

I think I first read Tryst when I was somewhere between 12 and 15. Decades ago. I’m now an established historian of architecture, which I mention only to let you know that I read and have read a lot.

Nonetheless, like you, I have never forgotten this book, past all the great literature, past all the plays and countless New Yorkers.

There is an elusive place that it somehow achieved in my soul and mind, some sort of quality, and here, in the middle of a work day evaluating a building, completely unrelated, it suddenly was urgent to track down the book; not easy because there are so many trysts out there on Google.

I quickly found your review, and the book was re-placed, so to speak. Thank you for sharing how you felt about its ineffable qualities, and so also for returning them to me.

Yours sincerely,

-Barbara Lamprecht

January 25, 2008:

I was so excited to read your review and find there are other people out
there (many it seems – YAY!) who feel about this book as I do. I was 16 or 17 when I bought it and I still read it every once in awhile. For some reason the book just gently grabbed me and never let go all these years. It is the one and only book that I have ever hung on to for so long – and plan to keep hanging on to. Couldn’t explain it if I had to – it’s just special somehow.

Thanks again,
Lynn

May 2007:

I am male, 54 years of age. I first read “Tryst” in 1972, and like you I am made lovesick by it and will never forget reading it. The book became part of my soul. Also like you, I am surprised to find that the author is a woman, and I lent my first copy (a paperback with margin notes I wrote) to a friend who never returned it. I was lucky enough to obtain a hardcover version of the book in 1989, and I will never let that one out of my sight.

Despite my being a male of the species, I am a hapless romantic and enjoy the occasional reading of romance novels; one in particular being, “Silverhill”, by Phyllis Whitney, and my favorite poet is Wordsworth. There is great depth in the longings of humanity, and though it’s articulations will not echo into the eternity of space, they will reverberate forever in the vast chambers of countless souls.

-Tim. Chaparral, NM