The title Entropvisions is in homage to my mother, the poet and art critic, Harriet Zinnes. In 1990 New Directions published a collection of her poems titled Entropisms, a word she made-up combining entropy - the tendency toward disorder - and tropism - the growth towards or away from a stimulus. Similarly, my short reviews combine entropy and tropism by suggesting growth towards a vision of art from the chaos of the art world. Through the back door, my title also pays homage to my physicist father, Irving Zinnes, whose long discussions with my mom got her thinking about entropy and tropism in the first place.
Harriet Zinnes Memorial
2020.12.6
Because of the Thanksgiving holiday I've waited a week after the one-year anniversary of my mother's death to post my humble tribute to her... mainly to say she is still so much alive within me. I feel her passion for art, poetry (she was a poet), life and her incredible perseverance with every brushstroke I make. I feel her belief in me and belief in love. In some strange way this last year without her has brought her closer to me, as I've researched her life, been in correspondence with her writer and editor friends and colleagues, and simply felt the presence of her entire life flow through me. Thank you, Mom, for being.
In her honor I've posted the link to her memorial service that took place last March - the last weekend before lockdown - at Poets House in NYC. Despite the early pandemic rumblings most of the poets who'd agreed to speak did speak and read Harriet's poems, and even people in their 80's braved the covid threat by coming to show their love and respect for my mother.
I am honored to be the daughter of Harriet Zinnes.