University of Virginia Library

New Virginia Spectator Arrives,
Demolishing The Stilted Past

By Rob Buford
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

The obituaries section of the
latest edition of The Virginia
Spectator suffers from one notable
omission that of the old UVM
(University of Virginia Magazine),
which drew to a creaking halt last
year and gave up the ghost.

Now, even the ghost is gone.
Remember UVM? What a drag.
Gone are the uninteresting stories
and stilted format. The Spectator,
by contrast, is here, now. With
some luck it will stay here and get
better.

This year's UVM staff, under
Editor John Clayton, decided early
what they did not want to do. To
appraise what they have done is not
a simple task, and this in itself
attests to some of their success.

The old moulds have been
shattered. New forms and ideas are
emerging, which is evident from a
look at the now-overdue March
issue of The Spectator.

Best Fiction

"Heat," a short story by Robert
James, is undoubtedly the
magazine's best fiction. Descriptive,
moving, confronting, it portrays an
incident in the life of a boy growing
up on a Southern tobacco farm.
The story would be a credit to any
magazine; that the Spectator contains
it is evidence of a solid literary
base. More material of "Heat"'s
caliber will insure future success.

More perplexing is John Clayton's
"Shirley," a one-act play. The
action (and there's plenty of it)
comes across through a strange
dialogue between two students (S1
and S2). S2's stream of consciousness
description of a "lost love"
and his subsequent decline into
premature middle age is interesting
but at times seems untenable from
any standpoint.

Many would call the story
nonsense or outright pornography.
The reader's feeling that there is
something missing is sustained by
the editor's note, which explains
that "we lost the last page — which
had all the redeeming social value
on it . . ." If social value is your
bag, write on, Mr. Clayton.

Beautiful Suburbs

Paul Birdsall's "Middle America
Discovers Pollution" is the issue's
most solid effort at humor (with
redeeming social value, of course).
The sad tale of Flo and Einar
Gausted, a couple from "beautiful
suburban Muncie, Indiana," unfolds
as they join the fight against
environmental pollution and find
the going a bit rough.

"Do the Pussies Want Peace?" is
interesting, but in parts it seems
half-hearted. Amos Andy Perednia
inverts the Panther scene in a story
depicting the revolution according
to the White Pussycat Party in
Charlottesville. The "suburban
ghetto" theme bolsters both the
credibility and the humor.

As a venture into poetry, The
Spectator presents "Listen to the
Worm" by Rod McKuen. By juxtaposing
and synthesizing fragments
of the real thing (McKuen's), the
psuedo-poet has created an interesting
study in auto eroticism, but the
poetry is purposely little better
than what it attacks. The satire is
what counts, and is quite effective.

Henry Ellett's "Economics
Notes" contains both a proposal
and a look at things to come. His
suggestion that the minimum draft
age be raised to 65 seems certain to
boggle the minds of the social
security set. The humor is good in a
limited context and renders the
piece well worth the space it gets.

The section containing obituaries
of "Famous Middle Americans"
(Richard Russell, Mendell Rivers,
Roy Wilkins, Ronald Reagan, et al.)
is appropriately brief and presents
some amusing situations for left
and right alike.

The Spectator's Globe Press
Service provides readers with the
latest news briefs:

"LAGOS, NIGERIA (AP) -
African officials today reported
that Nigeria's lion population had,
in referendum, rejected the title,
'king of the jungle.' In explaining
the choice the Nigerian Information
Minister said, 'What care these
roarers for the name of king?"'

The two "book reviews" included
in the issue are somewhat
mediocre. The better one describes
"Where He Stands: The Life and
Convictions of Spiro T. Anagnostopoulos."

The review says, "Though the
son of a Greek immigrant, he
regrettably never learned to speak
Greek, but as Miss Pinchot is quick
to point out, his Greek heritage
'with its reverence for the principles
of democracy and its emphasis on
wisdom, reason and justice, remains
ever with him."'

Liberal Recognized

Finally, there is The Spectator's
first annual White Liberal Award.
An amusing inside joke, the award
singles out the individual who, "in
the most blatant and ostentatious
manner, exposed his views to his
fellow liberals in the University."
The recipient of this dubious honor
will remain unnamed in this space.
Read for yourself.

Flexible Format

The Spectator's new tabloid
format permits a level of flexibility
unmatched by the old UVM. The
art work, especially the cartoons,
deserves praise. Susan Dickey's
photography is excellent, although
she could have used some help from
other contributors.

In balance, the strength of the
new Spectator lies in the fact that it
has come so far from the days of
the dry, impotent and boring rag
which preceded it. What weaknesses
it has are correctable. A broader
sense of direction should be
expected in future issues, growing
from an already firm base.

Spectator's Latest: 'Because The Past Is Just A Good-bye'