zyzzyva (ZIZ-zi-va) n. Any of various tropical American weevils of the
genus Zyzzyva, often destructive to plants. Last word in some dictionaries.

Letters to the Editor, Fall 1999

I sometimes think the ideal reader for ZYZZYVA is a terminally hip divorce in Redondo Beach.

I am not "West Coast," but I am more west and just as much coast as you are, certainly the cutting edge of the continent, literally on the fault line between the North American and Pacific plates. From my window I look directly out at the roots of the Aleutians. My volcanoes are Illiamna and Redoubt, and, just hidden behind the bushes, St. Augustine, an island volcano in Kamishak Bay, where giant bears live on the Katmai side. Cook Inlet lies out there like a wide silver cloth, sometimes electric blue; now floating ice makes it dangerous and dark. Eagles perch high back in the hills, and still six feet of snow. Eons ago I lived in California and danced in all the great dances and played paradise in Golden Gate Park. Old hippie dreams still make me smile, maybe as much as they did when I wasn't dreaming.

Denise Lassaw Paljor, Anchor Point, AK

I've read Tolstoy backwards, breezed through Faulkner's library in Braille, and memorized The Taming of the Shrew through osmosis. Once, when no one was looking, I edited Mark Twain. I am submitting my short story at the urging of Michael Sudmeier, a studio executive at Sony Pictures, who is considering adapting the piece to screen. Recently, I gave Mr. Sudmeier the latest edition of ZYZZYVA and he was highly impressed with the quality of writing.

Kicker, Manhattan Beach

Last summer, walking along a dirt road near my cabin 200 miles from Anchorage, a lost tourist in a rental car stops and asks me directions, notices maybe two Z's and half of the letter Y on my venerable old T-shirt showing in the open collar of the flannel shirt I'm wearing over the top of it, and says, "Is that a ZYZZYVA shirt?" Toss-up on who was more amazed: me, that I'd met somebody an hour and a half from nowhere who knew what ZYZZYVA is, or her, for exactly the same reason.

GRich Chiappone, Anchorage, AK

Thank you so much for your kind gift [of a ZYZZYVA T-shirt]. I appreciate your thoughtfulness and generosity. You have my best wishes.

Bill Clinton, Washington, D.C.

Though I can't very well thank you for the complete indifference you've shown my previous submissions, I must thank you for the promptness of your returns. If ever I'm feeling especially puffed up about a story, I make it a point to send it to you first, knowing that, without fail, you will prick the air out of me within 15 days. Heaven forbid you ever got sick and couldn't return one of my dear babies until the sixteenth day; I should probably wind up in intensive care with a near fatal case of aggravated anticipation.

Sean Warren, Point Mugu

With a baby at my breast I can no longer wallow in dense novels, much less hold them aloft with one hand. This circumstance has led me to a happy discovery. ZYZZYVA: deeply satisfying in short, brilliant bursts and easy to balance behind baby's bobbing head.

Miriam Garcia, Portland