Friends of the Oviatt Library Spring/Summer 2011 One-of-a-kind Exhibition: Tony Gardner’s Swan Song ome came replace the original Sto view the materials, the sort Library’s rarely of thing that makes seen treasures. up a library’s Special Others came to hear Collections. the keynote speaker, Following Stephen Tabor of Tabor’s thought- the Huntington provoking com­ Library. But many ments the as­ long-time friends sembled dignitaries of the library, those and Library friends truly in the know, repaired to the came to honor the Tseng Family Gal­ Oviatt Library’s lery where, while multi-talented, long- savoring an enticing serving Curator of medley of crudi­ Special Collections, tés, they ogled an Tony Gardner, who eclectic assortment recently announced his retirement, era of printing, he noted, when er­ of unique, rare, one-of-a-kind and to ogle his latest, and perhaps rors were found or changes judged ephemera plus portions of some his last, creation for the Library— necessary, presses were stopped, of the Library’s smaller collections. an exhibit featuring unique gems changes were made, and printing Among the items Gardner opted to from the Library’s archives. But for resumed. But the error-bearing showcase in his ultimate exhibition whatever reason, they came; and pages were not discarded—paper were such singular treasures as: A none left disappointed. was much too precious for such hand-written, eyewitness account Tabor, Curator of Early Printed extravagance—and the result was of the 1881 gunfight between the Books at the Huntington, pro­ books, even from the same print­ Earps and Clantons at the OK vided an appropriate prelude for ing that differed in subtle ways. corral in Tombstone, Arizona, the exhibit by tackling an oft-asked Moreover, type was reset com­ arguably the most famous gunfi ght question: Why should we care pletely after each run, typically of a of the Old West; an 1855 letter by about unusual works—usually few hundred books, at which time abolitionist John Brown in which called Special Collections—tucked it was commonplace to insert new he vowed to continue fi ghting to away in diffi cult-to-access, environ­ materials or modify the original. keep Kansas territory slave-free; a mentally controlled vaults? Why Even more variance resulted from fragment of a Torah scroll (Num­ not digitize them and discard the the common practice of rebind­ bers 2:22-32:13), hand written on often old and fragile originals, thus ing books, sometimes intermixing parchment; a copper-electro print­ freeing precious space and elimi­ pages from diff erent printings. ing plate for Mark Twain’s An Idle nating the need for a special envi­ Online facsimiles or surrogates, Excursion; and a 1755 edition of ronment? Tabor’s response to the Tabor acknowledged, “… can be Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of question he had rhetorically posed tremendously useful and certainly the English Language, in which for was that, “One copy can never convenient, but…only from the the first time he included examples fully represent an edition,” and he early printed versions, with all of each word’s usage drawn from documented this assertion with their imperfections can a researcher works of the Elizabethan Period. example after example of multiple come close to understanding the Also on view were such unex­ copies of a single work that diff ered author’s mind.” Electronic copies pected jewels from minor collec­ significantly in detail. In the early are here to stay, but they can never tions as: Colorful paintings and continued on page 2 ink-on-paper sketches by Haitian math of the Northridge earthquake lution of this uniquely American artists depicting voodoo rituals, when he, flashlight in hand, led art-literature; Wish You Were Here, all a part of the Dolores Yonkers a team into the pitch-black, frac­ an assortment of documents related collection; gorgeous gilded bronze tured library to retrieve rain-soaked to travel from ancient to modern animals, kettles and pots from the books, most of them unique and times; and Now Give Th ree Cheers: Western Zhou-Han period, pieces rare, for delivery to professional The Timeless Magic of Gilbert and from the Tseng Family collection of freeze driers, thus saving them from Sullivan, an assemblage of books, Chinese antiquities; a watercolor, destruction. Then, Curzon said, for scores and ephemera related to the an acrylic-on-canvas painting, six years as the Oviatt Library was comic duo’s life works, all from the and a woodcut print by acclaimed rebuilt, “Tony expended extraor­ newly acquired David Trutt collec­ artist and former tion. CSUN student, As an authority Florence Ferman, on rare collections, all of them from a Gardner has often lesser-known branch been called upon to of Ferman’s larger explain the intellectual and oft displayed process, the histori­ ceramics collec­ cal research and the tion; and a gorgeous intellectual content velvet dress worn of particular exhibits. by American op­ This, said Curzon, “… era soprano Helen he always did with Traubel, its pleats grace and humil­ adorned with steel ity.” Moreover, in his beads and sequins, capacity as archivist, rather incongruently Gardner, said the juxtaposed with the dean, “…was an active avid fi sherwoman’s participant in Faces favorite Centaure of L.A. and in the Los fishing reel (minus Angeles Preservation the pole, which, as Network, entities re­ noted on the accompanying plac­ dinary effort to fully restore the sponsible for preserving documents ard, was too long for the display Special Collections and Archives,” relevant to local history.” Of her case). all while working in portable bun­ soon-to-retire colleague, Curzon Gardner, who is retiring after galows and a plastic library dome. added, “We are going to miss Tony nearly four decades at the Oviatt, Once the rebuilt Library again immensely. Not just because of his has spent the past quarter century opened for business, Gardner incredible knowledge about mat­ as Curator of Special Collections. turned his attention to the hidden ters pertaining to the preservation After earning a BA in History at treasures he loved so much, seek­ of our special collections, but his CSUN, an MLS from UCLA and ing wherever possible to share them unfailing courtesy to our users and an MA in Middle Eastern history with the public. This he accom­ colleagues, his patience, diplomacy from the U of Arizona, Gardner plished through exquisite exhibits, and calmness in the face of any joined the Library staff in 1974 primarily of the Library’s larger issue, his warmth and caring about as catalog librarian. It wasn’t until archives. Most recent among his people, and his reasoned judg­ thirteen years later that he took exhibitions were such eye-catching ment.” Such accolades suggest that over Special Collections on a gems as: The Sun that Lights the Gardner leaves big shoes to be fi lled part-time basis, graduating to his Rainbow, a treasure trove of works and will be diffi cult to replace! full-time overseer position as the about the life and time of Eliza­ Gus and Erika Manders and the collection grew in size and impor­ beth I; The Making of the Book, an Friends of the Library sponsored the recep­ tance. But Gardner’s time at the exhibit depicting the art of hand tion and exhibit. Most items on display helm of Special Collections was not book binding from the time of were donated to the Library, their sources always easy. In a missive announc­ Gutenberg to the present; Celebrat­ indicated on accompanying labels; to those ing the archivist’s retirement, Sue ing Comic Books, a display that donors the Library off ers a special thank Curzon, Library Dean, reminisced drew upon the Library’s collection you, for without them there would be no about Gardner’s role in the after­ of vintage comics to trace the evo­ Special Collections. —jdole

2 Library Student Employees Garner Awards he 10th Annual Student Employee Awards CSU System’s highest awards: the 2010 William R. TCeremony last June saw four students hon­ Hearst/CSU Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achieve­ ored for their service to the Library. Named ment. The honor is for students who demonstrate Outstanding New Employee was LaTosha King, “superior academic performance, exemplary com­ while Parin Sutaria took the award for Outstand­ munity service, and significant personal achieve­ ing Long-term Employee. Th e Outstanding Library ments.” A secondary education major with plans Support Services honoree was Amy Suddleson, for a teaching credential and a Master’s degree in whereas the Outstanding Patron Service Award went Kinesiology, Samantha has earned a laudable 3.99 to Hoda Firouzian. GPA yet has found time to coach volleyball and For their exemplary service, more than $10,000 basketball at a local park, run PE in scholarships was bestowed on student employees. workshops at elementary schools, Yue He took the Mary Cleary Scholarship for Inter­ and be a university ambassador national Students; Samantha Barton, Angela Bell, and a peer mentor at CSUN. Chamero Mack and James Mansfi eld received the four Lois and Ralph Prator Scholarships; David Morck and Karine Panosian took home the Karin Durán Scholarships; Darline Hannah Predraza Barron won the Friends of the Library Scholar­ ship; Hannah Pedraza and Andy Villalobos Pictured (l-r): LaTosha King, Parin Sutaria, Angela Bell were honored with the Dean Susan Curzon, Amy Suddleson, Hoda Firouzian Ann and Dave Perkins Scholarships; and Hua Yang went away with the Virginia Elwood Scholar­ ship. Said Library Dean, DavidDid MorckM k Sue Curzon, this ceremo­ ny “is one of my favorite events because it gives us a chance to honor our many excellent student Karine Panosian employees who do so Pictured (l-r): Darline Barron, June Frankenberg, Anne Kogen much to make the library run smoothly. But the awards would be impossi­ Andy Villalobos ble but for the generosity of the scholarship donors. For their contributions I am deeply grateful, as I’m sure are the students.” Samantha Barton, a student employee in the Library’s Teacher Cur­ riculum Center, has been honored with one of the Back row (l-r) Sheila Reback, James Mansfield, Betsy Stelck, Joanne Christansen Front row (l-r) Samantha Barton, Linda Nyquist, Ruth Lupul, Yue He, Chamero Mack, Susan Curzon HYHua Yang 3 Karin Durán: A Celebration of a Life ost guests came stage,s and that her dressed in ever-cheerful,e other- Mcontemporary centeredc countenance styles, but a few wore willw be sorely missed. 1960’s garb—tie-dyed Altar-likeA displays of T-shirts, a Dashiki, a photosp and memo­ fl owing, ankle-length rabiliar bedecked the seersucker skirt, san­ roomr and foyer, each dals, headbands, bead thet product of an necklaces—all harken­ organizationo Karin had ing back to an era for touched:t Th e Teacher which Karin Durán CurriculumC Center, had a special fond­ a Library unit she ness. But however they oversawo for more than dressed, more than 150 threet decades; Comis­ crowded the Library’s ioni Femenil, a group presentation room and dedicatedd to helping spilled into the foyer LatinasL in the San Fer­ and adjacent areas. Th ey nandon Valley, of which came to honor Karin, a KarinK was a founding woman who had de­ memberm and a participant parted this mortal stage forf a quarter century; the much too early, and as a NativityN School, a Catho­ result denied her many licl elementary school for friends a chance to say low-incomel students on ‘thank you’ for her kind­ whosew board she served ness, her guidance, her anda whose library she concern, her generosity. helpedh build; the Associ­ But they were there to ateda Students of CSUN, party, not to mourn! It’s who counted her among how Karin had wanted it. ttheir ardent support­ And what a party it was! Ten­ eers; and the Department year-old Ricardito Paz sang, his oof Chicana/o Studies, to mariachi tunes eliciting laughter wwhich for 35 years she and hoots of appreciation. Stu­ ccontributed her expertise dent Vanesa Arribe swirled and aas an instructor. And in a pranced in her fl oor-length crim­ sshow of deep appreciation, son skirt as she executed a tradi­ tthe Associated Students tional Mexican dance. A small aand Comision Femenil cre­ ensemble of students performed aated scholarships in Karin’s to a tune from Hairspray, a Karin hhonor. favorite. A DJ spun platters from the ‘60’s. And, What was missing was any prominent ac­ of course, there was food: taquitos, quesadillas, knowledgement of Karin’s many awards and chips with natilla and guacamole. And on the honors, a not-surprising omission since her focus walls were myriad LP albums by such ‘60’s icons was always on others, not herself. But honors she as the Doors, the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and had, and they deserve telling. In 2006, the Uni­ Led Zeppelin. versity recognized her exceptional accomplish­ Though there was a festive air, a serious side ments with its Extraordinary Service Award. La to the get-together was also apparent: an ac­ Raza Alumni Association honored her with its knowledgement that someone important who Outstanding Achievement Award, and the CSUN had accomplished much in her life had left the Alumni Association awarded her its Service to So- continued on page 5 4 ciety honor. And Karin was a recent inductee into Phi Beta Delta Omega, an honor society for international scholars, a high honor indeed. Karin Durán, librarian extraordinaire, was much more than an exceptional fount of information always willing to help all comers; she was also an ex­ ceptional human being, a fact made abundantly ap­ parent by a montage of remembrances presented by co-workers, students, and friends in a video. A brief assortment of comments tells it all: “She mentored students, guided them and counseled them”; “She was an amazing woman, full of compassion and kind­ ness”; “She never thought about students failing; she worked hard to help them succeed”; “Si se puede, it can be done. She exemplified that and she taught it”; “She was a life coach, a mentor, a mom, a confidant”; “She was the embodiment of the work of a librarian. Our conversations were always about how she could help me in my work”; “I called her my ‘higher power.’ A student would ask a question, and I’d say ‘I have to check with my ‘higher power.’ And I did. Dr. Karin Durán was my ‘higher power.” For all its potential as a downer, the commemora­ tion was instead uplifting, even fun, just as Karin asked it be.be ThrowTh row aa parparty,tys shehe hhadad sasaid,id aanandd emem­ phasize the ‘60’s, a period to which she closely related. And as they departed, the partygoers’ hearts were full, their remembrances fond, and their hands clutched a recipe for Karin’s best-known and often-enjoyed culinary creation: Karin’s Enchanting Enchiladas. It was Karin’s last gift to those she valued so much, and who in turn so much valued her. —jdole

Norman Clyde: Legendary Mountain Man e was a loner, totally at home thet scales at only 140 pounds, Clyde’s in the mountains’ solitude. He pack,p said Pavlik, “…commonly Hlived off the land and the occa­ exceedinge 90 pounds.” Described sional handout. Climbing was his pas­ withw awe by those who had hefted his sion, and for more than half a century, monstrousm load, Clyde’s pack typically at a time when few people roamed the contained,c in addition to the expected Sierra Nevada’s craggy wilderness and paraphernaliap for a trek into the wilds, rescues were impossible, he scaled the ana axe, often a hatchet, a cast iron sheerest of peaks solo. He was “…com­ skillet,s a revolver, sometimes a rifle, pletely in tune with his chosen envi­ evene hardback books! “He was not ronment…a world of dazzling granite oneo of those ‘go-light’ campers,” said and glacial ice, deep blue sky and Pavlik.P ominously towering thunderheads.” Clyde’s name, largely unknown So said Robert C. Pavlik of ven­ amonga today’s generation of mountain erable mountain man Norman Asa climbers,c was immediately familiar to Clyde, the subject of his newly pub- mountainm explorers of the early and lished book, Norman Clyde: Legendary MMountaineer i mid-20thid 20 h century. He was a fixture of the moun­ of California’s Sierra Nevada. Speaking at a Friends of tains, as much at home in its wilds as the wolverine the Library–sponsored luncheon in April, Pavlik ver­ he on occasion encountered, and his knowledge of bally painted an indelible picture of Clyde as a “… his milieu was unmatched. “He was the only man I backpack that walked like a man.” Though he tipped know,” wrote Thomas Jukes, Sierra Club member, in continued on page 6

5 Clyde’s obituary, “who gave himself up completely his car and never worked a full-time job again.” His to a passionate love of the mountains. In return, the only long-term job thereafter was as winter caretaker mountains spared him … and let him die of old age at Glacier Lodge in Big Pine Canyon for 20 years, in full view of its peaks.” shoveling snow from the lodge’s roof, chasing van­ In spite of his reclusive dals and keeping hunters at bay. But “…when the nature, Clyde was well last of the snow had been shoveled he would climb educated, intelligent up into the Palisade Basin and range among the and widely read. high peaks of the Sierra until the weather drove him As a boy, he was back down in the fall.” home-schooled The Sierra Nevada was Clyde’s main stomp­ by his father, ing ground and he loved its serrate peaks and deep an itiner­ valleys. But on occasion he wandered elsewhere, ant preach­ from Mount Robson in the Canadian Rockies to er, from El Picacho del Diablo in Baja California and as far whom he eastward as Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. In a learned to five-week stint in Glacier National Park he became read the clas­ the first to reach the summit of the “unscalable” Mt. sics in Greek and Wilbur, building on its tip a 7-foot-tall rock cairn, Latin. He studied to easily seen from below, to demonstrate his accom­ become a teacher at Ge­ plishment. Clyde was the first person, said Pavlik, to neva College in Beaver reach the tops of 130 peaks, standing literally where Falls, Pennsylvania, said no other person had been before, and in his lifetime Pavlik, earning an A.B. he summited more than one thousand mountains, degree in the classics. many multiple times, among them the tallest prom­ Later, he came within ontory in the contiguous 48 states, Mt. Whitney, one course of complet­ which he ascended more than fifty times. During ing a master’s degree in winter Clyde occasionally traipsed through south­ English at UC Berkeley; ern California’s Transverse Ranges, on one excur­ literate in Spanish, sion hiking through the San Gabriels and the San French, Italian and Bernardino Mountains, then across San Gorgonio German he adamantly Pass to San Jacinto, along the way ascending every refused to participate major pinnacle he encountered. Then, said Pavlik, in an English class en­ to mark the jaunt’s end, “He relaxed with a few days titled “Dramas of the of horseback riding.” Romance Languages,” Though out of touch with the civilized world for insisting that “Italian long stretches, Clyde was no hermit. In winters he plays should be read in frequently migrated to Los Angeles, often to Daw­ Italian, French dramas son’s Bookstore, to stock up on reading material and in French, neither one to cadge equipment or food. According to Pavlik, in English.” For eigh­ Dawson’s served as Clyde’s “personal post office, teen years he taught storage area, bank, message center, meeting place, school, first in North and library.” And periodically, he traveled by bus Dakota, then Utah to Pennsylvania to visit family, with whom he also and Arizona before sometimes corresponded by mail. brief stints at several Clyde, said Pavlik, possessed an uncanny knack California schools, the for knowing when and where to reconnect to civi­ last in the Owens Valley lization, sometimes for sustenance or camaraderie, town of Independence. sometimes to lend aid. “He would just show up at Th ere, Clyde was promot­ Sierra Club camps… join them for a day or two, ed to school Principal but, accept a handout of food, do some fi shing, perhaps said Pavlik, “…when ac­ climb with them, then just wander back down the cused of shooting at students trail.” A Sierra Club member in Pavlik’s audience on Halloween, he resigned confirmed from personal experience Clyde’s pen­ his post, moved his stuff into chant for uninvited appearances, noting: “In 1968,

6 when Clyde was 83, he simply appeared at a Sierra was often called upon for rescues and body recover- Club camp where I was safety instructor. Of course ies…(and) in 1942 aided in the recovery of bodies we fed him. But we also watched him cut down a and papers from an Army Air Corp plane that had small snag and build a fire in the middle of some crashed in the eastern Sierra.” He sometimes did glacial polish, to which the Sierra Club trip leader mapping for the Geological Survey, “but always as a muttered, ‘What can I do? It’s Norman Clyde!’” casual employee.” Clyde also earned a modicum of Because of his sometimes unruly, even antisocial, remuneration from the many articles he wrote, more habits, said Pavlik, some Sierra Club members lik­ than 1400 in all, for the popular press and moun­ ened Clyde’s appearances at their gatherings to “… tain journals, and for his services as guide, climbing having a bear in the camp.” instructor and general roustabout for Eichorn, by It was a search in 1934 for a young San Fran­ then a music teacher in Redwood City who took cisco attorney, Walter “Pete” Starr, Jr., that forever students each summer on backpacking excursions to cemented Clyde’s name in Sierra Nevada lore, said the Sierra. Pavlik. Starr, a passionate mountaineer, had gone On several occasions, Clyde was honored for his alone among the rugged peaks of the Minaret region mountaineering prowess and for his knowledge of to explore and collect data for a guidebook he was the Sierras. Though no seeker of the limelight, he penning about the John Muir Trail. When he failed nevertheless enjoyed the accolades. His alma mater to return at an appointed time, Starr’s father enlisted awarded him in 1939 an honorary D.Sc. degree and friends, mountaineers and a contingent of Sierra recognized his nature writing in1962 with its distin­ Club climbers to search for his son. Although the guished service award. Though his relationship with the Sierra Club ran hot and cold—he was initially “What can I do? embraced, then rejected as too non-collegial, then welcomed again in his twilight year—the group, in It’s Norman Clyde!” recognition of his contributions to mountaineering, made him a recipient, at age 85, of its fi rst Francis search teams turned up numerable signs of Starr’s Farquhar Mountaineering Award, which he shared trek—rock cairns marking trails, his ice axe and with Allen Steck. Clyde also took great pleasure in a crampons, a bit of cloth, a cigarette butt—Starr biography he, with David Bohn’s help, wrote of his himself was nowhere to be found. After several life—Norman Clyde of the Sierra Nevada: Rambles days of scrambling across the rugged terrain failed Through the Range of Light—and appeared at the to produce the missing man, the offi cial search was book signing “…shining clean” and quite proud of called off, its target presumed dead. Clyde, learn­ his life’s work. ing of the missing climber on his descent from the Clyde’s legacy lives on, said Pavlik, in the many backcountry, joined the search, but feeling a need to specimens he collected that now reside in UC bring closure to Starr’s parents, continued searching Berkeley’s Vertebrate Museum; in a Sierran peak, alone after the offi cial eff ort ended, “…gaining and on the eastern boundary of Kings Canyon National losing thousands of vertical feet as he climbed and Park, that along with a glacier, a minaret, a spire, descended every peak.” After more than a week of a ledge and a meadow, now bears his name; in an solo climbing, cued by the sound of carrion-loving exhibit about his life and accomplishments in the blowflies, Clyde spotted Starr’s body on a narrow Eastern California Museum in Independence; and ledge of one of the Minaret’s highest peaks. Con­ in the handful of books about his life. Without any cluding that retrieval of the body was too risky, the doubt, the most notable of these books is Pavlik’s dead climber’s father entreated Clyde to bury his son own comprehensive treatise, about which Steve among the rocks. Aided by Jules Eichorn, his friend Roper, author and venerable alpinist, had this to say: and sometime climbing companion, Clyde en­ “Pavlik has done an admirable job in bringing to tombed the young mountaineer’s body in a crevice, light Clyde’s extraordinary life…(in a) diff erent age, packing its sides with stones. For this service, Starr’s one that (he) captures beautifully.” father paid Clyde, who at the time lived a hand-to­ mouth existence, a modest yearly stipend for the rest Pavlik, a graduate of CSUN, spent more than 15 years of his life, and awarded Eichorn a scholarship to the researching Normal Clyde’s life, patching together his University of California, Berkeley, enabling him to narrative from disparate archives and personal inter­ earn a degree in music. views. Pavlik is an environmental planner and histori­ With no regular job, Clyde supported himself an with the California Department of Transportation. by doing whatever came his way. Said Pavlik, he “… —jdole Oviatt Library California State University, Northridge 18111 Nordhoff Street Northridge, CA 91330-8326 Got email? Send us your email address: [email protected] This newsletter is supported by the Friends of the Oviatt Library Writer/Editor: Dr. Jim Dole Photography: Dat-Tuyen Nguyen Joyclyn Dunham Lee Choo Layout: Joyclyn Dunham

Congratulations Dr. Joseph Moore!

2011 Oviatt Library Volunteer of the Year

Joe, emeritus professor of Biology, a long-time member of the Friends of the Library, currently serves as Treasurer.