In Memoriam: John Brantingham

I found out that a good friend and mentor of mine, John Brantingham, has passed away and I need to tell some of the history of this magazine. Without him, there would be no East Jasmine Review.

When I moved back to the San Gabriel Valley after my undergraduate degree, John was one of the first people I met outside of a classroom who encouraged me to write. I met him at the Village Bookshop in downtown Glendora, where he hosted an open mic. I never intended to write poetry then. I was a Serious Fiction Writer.

Obviously, that changed. I began writing lots of poems, mostly not so great poems. I also wrote short stories as well, but those were too long to read at an open mic, and like any fresh graduate, I wanted to prove myself. So I wrote more and more poetry, attending the open mic and getting feedback.

After getting to know him better, John invited me to teach at the Mt. San Antonio College’s Writer’s Weekend, a yearly event at a local community college where he taught. I had facilitated a few workshops at the Village Bookshop and this was a chance to teach to more students. This was during the Great Recession and I was hoping to maybe get a few additional students or maybe a paying client for editing as I had no job. So, I said yes. Now, the event is called Culturama and I continue to teach workshops there.

Over the years, he invited me to teach or perform at events like the San Gabriel Valley Literary Festival and where he was a writer in residence at the dA Center for the Arts. During one of these events, I pitched the idea of starting a literary magazine (online of course, I didn’t have a job so I couldn’t afford printing costs) to a couple people I knew, John included. When I opened submissions for the first time, John sent me poetry. The entire network of writers he’d cultivated sent in poems, short stories, and other works. Those first few years were supported by John’s word of mouth.

Sometimes you do not realize how one person can shape your life so thoroughly, at least not until they pass. We all have these people: parents, family, friends, mentors. For me, John Brantingham may have been the single largest influence in my adult life. I will be forever grateful for his encouragement, wicked sense of humor, and how he loved life with such a unyielding ferocity.

East Jasmine Review has come a long way since those early day, and I would be remiss as a human to neglect to tell this story. Thank you John, for all you’ve done to make the world a brighter place. May we all carry the light forward as you did.

 

The Saviour of the World, El Greco

John Brantingham

We all inherit
El Greco’s Christ
eventually, eyes empty
from loss,
cheeks gaunt, even sallow

and the halo
no longer round
has collapsed
into itself,
a three-pointed crown.