April 25, 2015

Finest Hour 119, Summer 2003

Page 42

A newsletter devoted to T. E. Lawrence and his world, 77 E. Notes was begun in 1990 by Denis and Mary E. McDonnell and Janet A. Riesman. Thick and erudite, it includes articles about all periods of Lawrence’s intriguing life: his boyhood growing in Oxford, his days working on archaeological sites in the Near East, his scholarly work (including a translation of Homer’s Odyssey), his role in the Arab Revolt, his final years as a mechanic in the Royal Air Force. Essays cover a broad range of topics: collecting books in the Lawrence canon, reminiscences of people who knew Lawrence, accounts of his Arabian experience, literary analyses of his outstanding writings, reflections on what Lawrence meant to those fascinated and inspired by his life and values, questions about his ill-understood search for happiness in the RAF, and debates and controversies concerning his character and psychological make-up, to say nothing of the perennial mystery surrounding his untimely death in 1935 at age 46 in a motorcycle crash.

Past contributors include Jeremy Wilson, past President of the T. E. Lawrence Society and author of Lawrence of Arabia: The Authorized Biography, John Mack, Pulitzer Prize winner for his Lawrence biography, A Prince of Our Disorder, Malcolm Brown, BBC producer of films on Lawrence, editor of several collections of Lawrence’s writings, and co-author with Julia Cave of the Lawrence biography A Touch of Genius; Maurice Lares, author of a study of Lawrence and the French, 77 E. Lawrence, la France et les Frangais; Arab historian Suleiman Mousa; Robert Morris and Lawrence Raskin, who published the definitive study of the 1962 David Lean film, “Lawrence of Arabia,” starring Peter O’Toole in the title role; Harold Orlans, an expert on Lawrence’s literary correspondence; and Clifford Irwin, who is creating a database of Lawrence’s letters. 77 E. Notes tries to strike a balance between the scholarly and informal, appealing to the broadest number of readers interested in Lawrence.

77 E. Notes is published by the current editors, Suellen J. Miller, Edith J. Steblecki, and Elaine A. Steblecki twice yearly at a cost of $20, $25 overseas by check or PayPal to [email protected]. For overseas subscribers paying by check, we request international bank checks or international money orders (bearing a U.S. bank on the face of the check) in the amount of $25 U.S. Back issues are also available.

For more information contact: E. Steblecki, 77 E. Notes, 17 Shadow Road, Melrose, Massachusetts 02176-5109 USA or e-mail [email protected].