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Acknowledgements
The Poetry Archive would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to Ivy Dowd, who has recently donated a number of previously unseen poetry, letters, and photographs pertaining to John Doe. She has also given the archive permission to publish select works, and in collaboration with 20th Century Poets, has asked that any and all profit be donated to The Lester and Doe Foundation for the Arts.
We have enthusiastically taken this donation as an opportunity to expand our collection and have spent the last year cataloging, transcribing, and editing documents.
In addition to collected works by Doe, we have also compiled documents regarding the personal and professional life of Arthur Lester, as his relevant works pertaining to his collaboration with Doe in music, poetry, and life. We have chosen to combine the two into one subsection as Lester’s poetry catalogue is quite limited and does not warrant its own category.
We would also like to thank Diana Dowd, co-owner of Doe’s intellectual property, for her final say regarding the publication of Doe and Lester’s personal letters, photographs, and poetry, as well as Katie Collins for allowing us to transcribe and include her interview with Diana Dowd.
Special thanks to Miskatonic University for allowing us to utilize their archival documents and research resources, as well as Aaron Becker and The Blind and Deaf co-operative for transcribing and scanning braille documents. Becker also wrote the image descriptions included with the photographs.
This project was made possible by the Queer History Foundation, who made a sizable donation to the project, as well as The Lester and Doe Foundation for the Arts for their unwavering support of the project and its contributors.
Thanks to Alexis West and Lynn Miyawaki for transcribing, Bryophyte Colson for scanning and editing the poems for clarity, and Julia Kowlaski for her research work.
Finally, we would like to acknowledge and thank Arabella Walten for spearheading this project. Walten has been a forerunner in Doe scholarship and has dedicated much of her life to preserving his history and work, as well as the work of other notable poets. This collection would not be what it is without her hard work.