Shortly after Jeannette became director of Wesleyan University Press, she called me and asked
me to come to Middletown to discuss designing Wes Press books. That was the first of many
visits that I made to Middletown to see Jeannette and discuss books and schedules. Whether Jeannette was in her office on campus, sitting on the couch in her living room, or in a chaise lounge on the screened in porch at the side of her big house, Jeannette was always surrounded by manuscripts. In fact at the office, she was sometimes barely visible!
We would often go to a Chinese Restaurant that Jeannette favored. This particular Chinese Restaurant had fortune cookies that sometimes contained unpoetic, straight-forward, even rather grim messages. Once after opening her fortune cookie, Jeannette tossed the message across the table and said “this is yours”. It read, “you have a happy marriage”, I handed Jeannette mine to open, and she tossed that message to me too, and said, “their both yours”. The second message stated, “you talk too much”.
Kachergis Book Design’s home is a Victorian house that was built right after the Civil War.
We had just had a new phone system installed, and Jeannette called, I told her I would have to call her back because every phone was on some kind of loud speaker and her voice was being projected into every room. Jeannette said “that is great, I can talk to you all at once”.
We had many funny wonderful times. But when I think of Jeannette Hopkins, I think of a truly talented editor and publisher. I think of a woman who cared so intently about her craft, I am quite sure she read every manuscript she published and edited many of them too.
I know that she checked each design carefully, and would discuss with me details like the size of the credits for the quotes on the back ad of a book jacket.
She once said to me, you know we are doing truly important books. And we were. Jeannette
procured splendid manuscripts from noteworthy scholars. She made the Wesleyan University Press Poetry series one of the very best amongst University Presses. I attended the 25th anniversary of the Wesleyan University Press poetry series and I met the many of the great poets whose poems I had designed, for example, James Tate, Charles Wright, David Ignatow, & Coleen McElroy.
Even though I had been designing books for many years, Jeannette taught me so much.
Thank you, Jeannette.
Joyce Kachergis
me to come to Middletown to discuss designing Wes Press books. That was the first of many
visits that I made to Middletown to see Jeannette and discuss books and schedules. Whether Jeannette was in her office on campus, sitting on the couch in her living room, or in a chaise lounge on the screened in porch at the side of her big house, Jeannette was always surrounded by manuscripts. In fact at the office, she was sometimes barely visible!
We would often go to a Chinese Restaurant that Jeannette favored. This particular Chinese Restaurant had fortune cookies that sometimes contained unpoetic, straight-forward, even rather grim messages. Once after opening her fortune cookie, Jeannette tossed the message across the table and said “this is yours”. It read, “you have a happy marriage”, I handed Jeannette mine to open, and she tossed that message to me too, and said, “their both yours”. The second message stated, “you talk too much”.
Kachergis Book Design’s home is a Victorian house that was built right after the Civil War.
We had just had a new phone system installed, and Jeannette called, I told her I would have to call her back because every phone was on some kind of loud speaker and her voice was being projected into every room. Jeannette said “that is great, I can talk to you all at once”.
We had many funny wonderful times. But when I think of Jeannette Hopkins, I think of a truly talented editor and publisher. I think of a woman who cared so intently about her craft, I am quite sure she read every manuscript she published and edited many of them too.
I know that she checked each design carefully, and would discuss with me details like the size of the credits for the quotes on the back ad of a book jacket.
She once said to me, you know we are doing truly important books. And we were. Jeannette
procured splendid manuscripts from noteworthy scholars. She made the Wesleyan University Press Poetry series one of the very best amongst University Presses. I attended the 25th anniversary of the Wesleyan University Press poetry series and I met the many of the great poets whose poems I had designed, for example, James Tate, Charles Wright, David Ignatow, & Coleen McElroy.
Even though I had been designing books for many years, Jeannette taught me so much.
Thank you, Jeannette.
Joyce Kachergis
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