Tburg Literary History of Crossing Press
This morning, I found a glimpse into a bit of Trumansburg’s literary history in the form of Crossing Press. Crossing Press was founded back in 1963 by John Gill, a poet who was living in Trumansburg at the time. The original name of the press was New Books. Crossing Press sounds a bit more interesting, doesn’t it?
Over the years, Crossing Press has published many interesting titles, such as Magic Mommas, Trembling Sisters, Puritans & Perverts and The Women Who Walk Through Fire. Of special local interest was Moog’s Musical Eatery, published in 1978, referring to Robert Moog, of course.
In 1986, Trumansburg lost Crossing Press to Northern California. In 2002, it was bought out by Ten Speed Press.
John Gill died in 1995, and was memorialized in the summer 1996 issue of Poets and Writers by fellow poet Robert Peters, who wrote, “In the 30 years of our friendship I never heard him complain that his work as a publisher, magazine editor, and poet was insufficiently appreciated. I can hear the cheery laugh he’d give over this, changing the subject by pointing out some magical detail in the landscape a pair of gulls over Santa Cruz harbor or the spectacular Trumansburg falls.”
Thanks for this very useful bit of literary history. I was trying to figure out how one of the first books by West Coast Canadian poet Patrick Lane was published by New Books of Trumansburg. The John Gill connection was the missing link.