ON POETIC LICENSE

Is Our Editor BURLY?

In a description of North Beach (the Greenwich Village of San Francisco ) appearing in January Pageant's article by Daniel Dixon entitled "San Francisco's What the Hell-Ville", appears the following quote:

the boundaries of the sanctuary called North Beach. Within them dwell a thousand different figures the longshoreman who is now at work on his fourth unpublished novel, the burly young woman who edits a magazine for Lesbians

Since to our knowledge there is no other publication in San Francisco edited by a woman on the theme of Lesbianism, WO can only assume that the magazine referred to is THE LADDER and the editor our own Phyllis Lyon.

We do not deny that we do publish articles, fiction and poetry on the Lesbian theme, BUT WE DO HEARTILY DENY THAT PHYLLIS LYON IS BURLY.

According to Funk & Wagnall's College Standard Dictionary published in 1940 (it was the nearest at hand), the adjective burly is defined as follows:

1. Large of body; bulky; stout; lusty. 2. Bluff or rough in manner.

Those who have made the personal acquaintance of Phyllis Lyon would hardly call her large of body, bulky or stout. She has a trim figure 34 bust, 24 waist (may be slightly larger after recent Holiday parties) and 36 hips sidered by many as "very nice".

·

-

con-

As regards the "lusty" section of the definition of burly, the dictionary offers the following definition:

1.

Full of vigor and health; able-bodied; robust. Jolly; merry.