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vi The Films of Stan Brakhage to the entire student body an evening that dealt with the topic they were teaching. On one of the first evenings, Stan Brakhage presented a numberof his films; what I saw struck me with the force of revelation. My plans were in ruins, for I sensed I had to become a maker of such "poetic" films. I knew that Stan Brakhage had accomplished in film everything I dreamt of doing as a poet; so, straightaway, I began sitting in on his classes. My wife somehow persuaded the school's administration to loan us money, and I purchased a Bolex camera from a schoolteacher who, the previous year, had been inspired by Brakhage's example to take upfilmmaking,but had come to the conclusion that he and the medium were not congenial. I also set out to see as many avant­garde films as I could. Innumerable times my wife and I made the trip between Toronto and Buffalo, where Prof. O'Grady had established a centre that screened avant­garde films and pre­ sented many distinguished lecturers on avant­garde films. I hunkereddown to a life of teaching, to support my "unorthodox" filmmaking, and resolved to do the best I could at it. It has been a blessing: my students have long been a source of great delight (and in the past few years all the more so), and have annually renewed my commitment to the subjects I teach. Year after year, they have responded with enormous enthusiasm to avant­garde cinema; and several of them now devote themselves, either part­time or full­time, to making and exhibiting it. They have done much to shelter me from the criti­ cism of parties who do not share their, or my, enthusiasm for the practice. Indeed, circumstances have occasionally called upon them to take direct action to fend off such attacks, and they have risen most effectively to the task. And recently, when I was in distress, and in doubt about going on with my work on this book, a group of them let me know that they simply would not countenance my reneging on my responsibilities. Earlier, one of that group, Izabella Pruska, had taken on the responsibilities of tracking down, photocopying, and checking every quotation in this book (even though I had hired her as a filmmaking assistant), and she did so with a very touching sense of being fortunate to be required to read the writings of Brakhage et al. with such fine care; at that juncture she went to pains to convey her desire to reread the book under different conditions, and the disappointment she wouldfeel if she could not. I am grateful to the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada for providing funds for the publication of this book. The Office of Research Services at Ryerson Polytechnic University provided funds that helped defray the costs of indexing. I am also grateful to their anonymous reviewers who made many valuable suggestions (the inclusion of a glossary was one), and who drew to my attention several errors in detail. Barbara Schon did a splendid job on this brutally difficult­to­index manuscript (the most difficult With Gratitude vii she has ever had to do, she tells me). I have also received support that goes far past the call of duty from the entire staff of Wilfrid Laurier University Press. Leslie Macredie has handled many design, production, and marketing details in exemplary fashion (and with notable good cheer). Doreen Arm­ bruster agreed to take her work on the manuscript with her into retirement (and the manuscript benefited greatly from herr experienced eye for detail). Carroll Klein had to go to enormous pains to work a sprawling manuscript, produced by one who does not write easily, into a more seemly shape; the book has benefited greatly from her scrupulous care. Sandra Woolfrey, WLU Press's director, took personal interest in the project, and at every turn and in a thousand practical ways conveyed her deep commitment to it. She also provided immensely wise counsel that salvaged the project at one crucial moment. While I was reviewing the page proofs for this book, on an airplane bound for New York City, where I was to present a film that concerns the mystery of the resurrection, and at a juncture when reflectionwas appropriate, I came across a beautiful passage quoted in German, and tears of thankfulness for all that my father taught me welled up...

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