During months of research, the most compelling issue I ran across was the widespread misinformation or omission of relevance regarding key facts pertaining to my subject. Subsequently, along the way, I found many related subjects suffered the same consequences. In this age of internet resources and satellite capabilities have we replaced quality with quantity? Don't get me wrong, I am not the slightest bit against this new age of technology, but, when it is rolling in so fast and furious that it becomes too much to consider whether certain data is actually accurate, then it is time to evaluate the way we value the snowball of input. I think it is still wonderful how we can almost instantly bring up, right in front of us, a pile of information and resources that were previously unavailable to us. Basicaly, I'm still amazed how we can send pictures through the air and they come out of a box sitting in our livingrooms. That said, what good is it if any percentage of the information dropped in our lap is actually incorrect? If the flood of data accessable is not always correct, what is it actually hurting? I think it hurts everybody. It not only hurts history, it hurts the way we view the necessity of adhering to details, especially when it come to history. Who is in charge of analyzing the facts? So many are in such a rush to get on the keyboard and 'knock things out', they are disregarding the outcome of what they type.

Then there are the ones who disregard the truth intentionally for monitary gain. Several years ago there was a vast amount of resources on the internet which was free(and safe). Now everything we look up has something to do with money, even if we don't pull it out of our bank accounts. Now we've gone from a limited access of resources that were reliable(and free), to an infinite line of data which costs, electronicly or otherwise, and it is a gamble whether it is reliable. It's more about making a buck then providing quality, in all aspects of life. For the consumer or recipient, it's all about acquiring info or things as quickly and easily as possible...so we feed the flames(or snowballing), as it were.

In one very disappointing case of greed, I found a real slap in the face with this reality of which I speak. I was working on the biography of Arthur Moss, American expatriate in Paris, 1920's until his death in 1969. He was dedicated to being an accurate journalist and promoting the arts to all the world, through his articles and magazines he published and edited. His story and his works can be viewed at www.arthurmoss.com . Without getting into too much detail, Moss was the first on record to publish Hemingway's very first writings; just one of many facts totaly mishandled by those responsible for documenting details and events. When Sylvia Beach, another expat in Paris, closed her bookstore, Skakespeare and Company, she donated her entire collection to The American Library in Paris, in 1951, according to the library's records. Knowing she had a thorough record and inventory of Moss' accomplishments, I can't explain the exitement and anticipation of what I would find there. Instead, I found a very uncooperative Simon Gallo, collector for the American Library in Paris, and with the library for over thirty years, seemingly unaware of who Arhtur Moss was. He was short with me, stating the library had nothing on, or by, Arthur Moss.

At first, I thought this had to be a mistake. O K, there wasn't a room, or a catalogue, dedicated to Moss, as I fantasized preceeding my corospondance with Mr. Gallo, but, nothing at all(?!). I kept thinking there must be a mistake, something lost in translation. Then, about a week later, I was making a list of all the antiquated and vast inventory online bookshops and comparing prices of signed editions of Moss' books. I was in probably the most popular of all the online stores in America, when I ran across a copy of a Moss book, signed, at a very reasonable price, and the seller was a Simon Gallo. I was in disbelief, at first, thinking "What a coinsidence", there's another Simon Gallo. Upon further investigation, I found it was not a coinsidence, this was one in the same. Mr Gallo had some 1700+ books for sale online and two of them were by Arthur Moss(the last two he wrote before he died). I tried first to get a comment from Mr Gallo, then from the director himself, Mr Trueheart, but, they both ignored me.

That isn't what I intended for the whole flavor of this blog to contain, but, I feel it is worth mentioning and persuing and I will, every chance I get. To me it is an atrocity; a crime, if you will, against our culture and our right to view all works that were written, or painted, or performed, for society as a whole. That is exactly what Arthur Moss was all about. I have spent many hours contacting many online booksellers and libraries and even people listing personal collections, advising them certain books are listed wrong. Even major publications, such as Harpers, placed a comma in the wrong place and it was translated down the road incorrectly, to where a Moss Arthur is getting the credit for an article in 1932, to the point that people are arguing with me. I don't want things to go back to index cards as a means of storing data, but, if it is someones job to enter data, I have just three words...DETAILS, DETAILS, DETAILS.

Even though our political and moral views would have differed greatly, I have developed a huge respect for the work, and genius of, the whole Lost Generation/expatriate/Parisian scene in the early 20th century. That is what I have hope for, a stimulating exchange of opinions, information, and ideas regarding the people, or the art which was produced by the era. I don't want it to turn into another Wikipedia, where it is a competition to see who can get the facts  the fastest  so they can rack up points. I know there has to be others just as genuinely interested and reminiscent of the past as myself.

Welcome to my blog. Please check back soon for new entries.