Volume 2012 Parnassus

Editor's Foreword

In his forthcoming book, David Masciotra writes, “A literary sensibility approaches life with an eye, ear, and heart turned toward creating meaningful and memorable stories. Life is therefore judged by its amount of great stories, and these stories are not made great because they end well.”

For the past fifty years, Parnassus has been dedicated to publishing meaningful and memorable stories. They take many forms: essays, shorts work of fiction, or anecdotes pulled from life. Even poems and works of art have larger stories behind them. These stories inspire us, make us think, or cause us to see something in a new way. They don’t always have happy endings, as you’ll soon find out. But they can remind us that even in our darkest times, we can hold onto hope, and that someone is always weaving a beautiful story from the messiness and brokenness of our lives.

I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the staff this year for their creativity and commitment, and for the time they invested to make the journal you are holding possible. You were truly a joy to work with. I would also like to thank Professor Aaron Housholder, who provided unwavering support, and Professor Thom Satterlee, who served as the Parnassus advisor for nine years until he gave up teaching to pursue writing full-time. An interview with Thom Satterlee is included in the appendices.

I hope that you don’t passively flip through this journal, but that it seeps in and changes you, like any great story should. Approach life in the same way the artist and writers in this journal approach their work: use what you’ve been given to craft a memorable and meaningful story.