by Herb Kauderer
I don’t remember when I first met David. It might have been in the overwhelming experience of the 1983 Baltimore WorldCon. He would have just returned to Virginia after completing his PhD at the University of Kansas. We generally hit it off at the time and beyond. Perhaps part of our friendship was the service of remembering alternate selves of each other. I remembered him as an energetic young man before the van accident that put him in a wheelchair. He remembered me as a fat hairy fanboy who had flunked out of college and who clung to fandom for intellectual stimulation.
As years passed, if we were at the same convention, I made time to visit with him. I met his daughter who was sometimes his aide, and I got to watch her grow in a sort of time-lapse photography. I believe she illustrated some of his books. When I eventually begged my way back into college and became a professor, I asked him for advice. He always gave good practical advice, but was clear that he was not a classroom professor. He worked for the
Geological Survey of Alabama which was part of the University of Alabama; an academic job to be sure. But he didn’t face students every day as I did. I had the impression that David never really cared for Alabama but was happy to have a good job. When he retired to Louisiana, I was hoping he’d have more fulfillment there.
There was, of course, another side to our friendship. In 1986 he began publishing Dreams & Nightmares, and starting in the April 1990 issue with “Medusa” he regularly published my poetry. The May 2026 issue includes my poem “Small Gods” written with David Clink. While he published about thirty of my poems, I submitted a lot more. David once expressed to me that his ideal was to accept only five percent of publishable submissions. That would allow him to make a balanced, rich, thematic issue. This was a new way of thinking about submissions and it helped me in my careers both writing and editing.
One result of Dreams & Nightmares, is that I corresponded with David an average of six times a year for thirty-five years. And we often chatted beyond the mechanics of submitting poetry. David was the publisher of record for my first book, Olives: A Jar Full of Small Pokes (1995). The book was commemorating the first time I was a Guest of Honor at a convention. David was kind enough to provide additional distribution. We were reading each other’s work, and at some point he actually pulled quotes from my correspondence comments on a previous book of his, and used them in publicity for one of his new books. I was honored. We also reviewed each other’s books for Star*Line.
In the early to mid ‘90’s Dark Regions Press had a ‘best of’ publishing series of “The selected poetry of…” David’s book for them was The Conspiracy Unmasked (1994) illustrated by his wife Sheila. I wouldn’t be surprised if he recommended they consider me, and I was soon invited. My book Variations of Sleeping Alone followed in 1996 including “Medusa” as an anchor poem with a stunning illustration from Hugo-nominee Linda Michaels.
In addition to forty years of editing and publishing Dreams & Nightmares, David also edited Star*Line for more than six years. He edited (or co-edited) the Rhysling Anthology eight times, in 1996, in 1998 (the combined 1996 & 1997 edition published which was very important to getting the awards working smoothly after a bump in the road), 1999, 2001, 2017, 2019, 2020, and 2024. He co-edited the Dwarf Stars Anthology in 2023.
David was an exceptionally strong and original writer, and that was reflected by his receiving many award nominations, including winning a Rhysling and coming in second four times. His works also finished second in the Elgins and Dwarf Stars.
It was my pleasure to nominate him for SFPA Grand Master in 2016, and my delight when he received the accolade in 2017. He produced more than thirty books and chapbooks, an amazing feat with all the editing and publishing he was doing. At the same time, he was a helpful human, what John D. MacDonald always called “one of the good ones.”
I know that David will be remembered as a fine human, and as a great writer. But he also did exceptional work as editor and publisher. While we never lived anywhere near each other, we sustained a friendship across centuries and thousands of poems. I wish him the best in whatever adventures he is having, now that he’s left our world. I have no doubt he will record those adventures in poetry and prose. I’ll be looking for them in the Afterlife Bookstore, as soon after I get to the other side.
-Herb Kauderer
Please feel free to share your memories of David in the comments below.