FROM THE EDITOR

This issue is dedicated to the memory of a friend of ours, all of ours, David E. Thompson known to all of us in the artist book world as Davi Det Hompson, 57, who died of a heart attack in Richmond, VA on Sunday 8 December As an artist, Hompson was best known for work that included performance, video, installation, and word and book art, as well as painting. He also was a member of the Fluxus Movement.

In over 30 solo exhibitions, including shows at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Alexandre Iolas Gallery and Franklin Furnace in New York, and Galerie A in Amsterdam, as well as 1708 East Main Gallery in Richmond, of which he was one of the founding members. His work is in the collections of the Virginia Museum, Archiv Sohm in Stuttgart, Germany, the Groninger Museum in The Netherlands, the New Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. He is best known to us as the publisher of over 75 artist books, which combined images and typographical invention with writing that bordered on poetry and was spiced with political awareness.

Starting in 1979, he frequently collaborated with the artist Cliff Baldwin of Long Island, New York. They co-published -Aqui!, a poster periodical, featuring their own work as well as that of Gilbert & George, General Idea, Les Levine, and Barbara Kruger. Baldwin+Hompson also curated the portfolio Nine is a Four Letter Word produced by the Key Gallery in Richmond, VA which has been exhibited in Philadelphia, Dallas and Cologne, Germany. Hompson left his wife, Nancy, chair of the Department of Crafts at the Virginia Commonwealth University, and his son Nathan Guy; his mother, and three brothers. We have lost a treasure.

I want to apologize for the duplication of so many pages in the last issue of Umbrella. It was as if my printer had typographical indigestion, but some of my readers really had fun following the continuity, but the solution is delete pages: 67,68,70,71,73,74,76,77 and there you have it. It cost me more than you'll ever know, and I'll try in the New Year to be more careful. But it still was a good issue, I thought, and so did most of the readers.

We begin our 20th year--can you believe that--and we hope to be online (at least the news of the last issue, not the latest issue, before long. Meanwhile, we will be producing an anthology of Umbrella at the end of the year and we can tell you that we will try to produce that 20th Anniversary Anthology for $20.00. In addition, I wish to thank all of you throughout the world who helped me get through a very trying time this past year when the computer and all the backups were stolen. My faith in human kind and especially my readers and friends will support me the rest of my days, and I am blessed by your friendship. The best advice I can give all of you is Back Up, Keep Calm, and Don't Panic!

As most of you know, IT'S TIME TO RENEW! If you haven't done so already, in order to help us defray postage costs, use the Subscription Renewal Form in this issue to renew for 1997. I need your support more than ever_ and the best way is to send in your money to me by 31 January so I will not have to mail out so many renewal forms. Please, renew now and help Umbrella to continue into its 20th year. Also remember that an anthology of the 20 years of articles, profiles, reviews and news will appear at the end of the year or in early 1998, so know that if you are a subscriber, the price will be a special one for you and you alone. And remember to keep your umbrella up in the rain, your parasol to protect you in the sun, and remember to send me your news and any other tidbits throughout the year. I would hope that the next issue will come out in March or April at the latest.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE UMBRELLA MUSEUM Barbara Drucker, Ray Reece, Peter Netmail, Anna Banana, Annie Wittels, Freya Zabitsky, the Elzas Family, Sharon Gilbert, Sherman Clarke, Gloria Helfgott, Ita Aber

UMBRELLA NEWS Many of you will recall the waves of umbrellas in Belgrade in the snow when tens of thousands of people holding umbrellas marched to protest the annulling of local elections, as they are still marching at this writing. The waves of umbrellas seemed like a hopeful wave of the future, one of democratic independence, one of striving toward the goal of freedom. I shall hold that image in my mind for 1997 and hope you will also.

<B>Umbrella</B> is published by Umbrella Associates, and the editor is Judith A. Hoffberg, P.O. Box 3640, Santa Monica,CA 90408. Phone: (310)399-1146, fax: (310)399-5070. email address is: umbrella@ix.netcom.com Subscriptions are available for calendar year only, payable in American currency. c1997 by Umbrella Associates