Tag Archives: Great Depression

New Zine! ‘POSTCARDS FROM IRVING’ Coming in August

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Why a Zine, and Why Now?

Without giving too much away, this isn’t about Ben Irving as much as it is about the worlds and times he inhabited, and I am still consistently amazed at the things I discover about them. For reasons both personal and professional about which I will go into more detail in Issue One, I’ve decided to self-publish the Ben Irving chronicles, and I’ve decided to do it (mostly) away from the internet.

Those of you who have been following this site for a while may be familiar with who Irving was. If not, feel free to take a look back through the archives so far. Postcards from Irving will take these rabbit holes of research on the man, his music career(s), and his travels and expand upon them with each issue. My plan is to publish and mail out Postcards from Irving quarterly – once per season – with occasional bonus issues or collaborations. I will try to announce/preview each new issue on this website, and still include occasional nuggets from the archives.

Will this Cost Anything?

The ‘Postcards from Irving’ zine/newsletter will be free indefinitely from the date of subscription for anybody US-based, and back issues will be available for $1 each. In order to help offset costs of printing and mailing down the line, I will also be accepting donations. A small donation will get you a shout-out in ‘Postcards from Irving’ and my undying gratitude.

If you are outside of the United States and would like to subscribe to Postcards from Irving please get in touch via the form below or on Instagram.

How to Subscribe

If you would like to have fun and keep it analog (aside from reading about it online here), then direct all correspondence to POSTCARDS FROM IRVING, P.O. BOX 1309, MT. PLEASANT, MI 48804. You are welcome to (1) send me a postcard or letter requesting to subscribe or (2) pay for back issues/donate to the project with well-concealed cash.

You can also subscribe right here, using this form:

How to Donate to the ‘Postcards from Irving’ Project

You can mail well-concealed cash or a check to P.O. Box 1309, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48804, or you can donate via PayPal using the button below (or this link, if you can’t see the button). Any small amount is appreciated and will go directly to cover any printing/mailing expenses.

Thank you. I can’t wait to see where this goes.

“Trinidad” (Ben Irving, original lyric sheet header, 1940s)

Ben Irving Lecture in Lenox, MA Today at 4pm

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pechakuchaslide

Sorry for the last-minute announcement, but if anyone is interested and in Western Massachusetts (should you be so lucky), I’ll be presenting an hour long lecture on “Lyrics, Letters, and the Forgotten Lives of Ben Irving” today at 4pm at the Kimball Farms auditorium in Lenox. This is a special presentation of the work I’ve been doing to archive my great-grandfather’s musical and sales career(s) that sent him across all 48 American states and several Mexican ones (plus a few Canadian provinces) during the Jazz Age and Great Depression. I presented a truncated version of it at Pecha Kucha Night Knoxville last week. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to present this extended version in the Knoxville area sometime soon, but for now, I’m very excited to present this long version for the first time with the special bonus of having Irving’s daughter (my grandmother) in the audience.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and are looking forward to the end of the semester!