Today there are 12,092 fans on this Facebook page.

And what an easy way to get involved with Anaïs Nin fans (or ninnies as my skeptical pal William Rossa Cole used to call those who he considered fans of her work) since he brought me to meet Frances Steloff at Gotham Book Mart, how irritated could I get by his little jab/jest.

The contact person for the site is Corina Joy. You can reach her by email by signing up as a fan for the site or reading the Wall.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anais-Nin/6260799661

To distinguish her page from others on Facebook, look for this picture of Nin (which I haven’t seen in this format with the teapot).

I still prefer to think of her drinking coffee! Being a tall Americano myself and my love of this quote of Anaïs which we use on our ordering page on AnaïsNin.org for my favorite book on Anaïs, Benjamin Franklin’s Recollections of Anaïs Nin by her Contemporaries. One of those out of print gems that you should search for on ABE.com you can buy a copy today for $3 or click on Amazon’s link to ask for it to be added to the Kindle bookstore!

“Joy appears now in the little things. The big themes remain tragic but a leaf fluttered in through the window this morning, as if supported by the rays of the sun, a bird settled on the fire escape, joy in the taste of coffee–Joy accompanied me as I walked to the press. The secret of joy is the mastery of pain.”

—Anaïs Nin

We used to be able to afford to have an earlier web master (who we called our Amazon Warrior Princess) who deleted the spam and smut entries over morning coffee. Of course she was paid, but it was a boring irritating and frustrating task.

Because it became so difficult even with the security enabled News/Event board that Rochelle Holt monitored so effortlessly we had to completely stop it. Tonight we found in the endless spam for Chinese herbal products and mean spirited comments like “anais would laugh at you” this entry from artist Ania.

She asks that you visit her site, of course this is the mythical Anaïs Nin quote that has become the most sought after quote. Sounds like her, but may be an urban legend, but it certainly is the most asked question over the years. (Commercial projects wanted to know the source so they can make a proper attribution) Even if it’s apocryphal, the quote is beautiful presented! And the note cards are lovely!

If anyone finds the original source of this quote in Nin’s work or Nin’s speeches, let us know and we’ll buy a mug for you from the artist. You can follow her @aniaart.

Here’s her post which we’re finally adding to the guestbook but are sharing it with you.

Anaïs Nin quotes have drawn me in…I love useing her quotes with my artwork.

“And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than to blossom.”

That quote was perfect to describe my “Blossom” still life, which depicts a life with Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

http://www.zazzle.com/aniaart

My name came before finding Anaïs Nin quotes!

Simone Lorenz and Bruce Cohen, spoke for Rupert Pole in the early negotiations of the Anaïs Nin web site.

Here they are in the 1995 at Anaïs Nin’s home in Silver Lake. Rupert Pole is on the right and they are on the left. Sharon Spencer is looking up at Simone who had compiled a beautiful edition of quotes from Anaïs which was at that time among the Nin fans, expected to be published soon.

Party at Silver Lake House 8/27/95: Bruce J. Cohen,Simone Marie Lorenz,Sharon Spencer, Bebe Barron, Renate Druks, Kazuko Sugisaki, Rupert Pole. (Photo by Simone Marie Lorenz, © 1995. All rights reserved.)

To read Simone’s touching piece Remembering Rupert.

Recently we sent a couple of postcards from Valerie’ Harm’s generous offer (which the site has been mailing out) to Simone. we asked if it was okay to post a New Year’s greeting that she and Bruce had sent out to friends on New Years. Here it is to inspire everyone today, as every day in a sense begins a new year, from that date! you begin writing your new day, new year message in your journal.

From Simone:
January 1, 2009

In my silent morning meditation, the attached reminder arose. While sharing the writing with Bruce, bright sunlight passed through the crystal hung in the window and then through the water in Bruce’s drinking glass, sending dancing light and prisms of color across the page.

Delighted and in gratitude for this spontaneous display of beauty we wanted to share it with you…

Anaïs Observed is On DVD …. although with a different cover than the original video.

A 60-minute color documentary on Anaïs Nin. The NY Times said, “All of her fans should be sure to see this movie.” And James Leo Herlihy: “Robert Snyder gives us a deeply captivating experience of the 20th Century?s greatest art form…”

Order Form

You can also order the original book the film was based on and originally published by Swallow by Robert Synder (who passed away in 2004) There can’t be many, so order now!

Just after Rupert Pole died, when the Lifestyle editor of the LA Times Janet Eastman was writing a piece in The LA Times on Nin’s Home, in Silverlake, “Storied Past, Uncertain Future” the site lent this film (in video form) and the book with the other materials to the writer. In the story Eastman writes:

“Photographs and the 1973 documentary “Anaïs Nin Observed” by the late Robert Snyder show her posing, her hand gracefully holding her chin, at the mosaic-top dining room table alongside a bank of windows. Or sitting on an orange pillow on the coral carpet in the living room next to the glowing fireplace, her hair swept into a loose roll, lipstick perfect on her upturned smile, barefoot and wearing a scooped-neck caftan, her only accessory her diary in her hand. ”

It’s a Keeper.

On Jewel’s 1995 album Pieces of You she wrote a “Morning Song” with the lyrics:

“You can be Henry Miller and I’ll be Anaïs Nin /Except this time it will be even better/we’ll stay together in the end.”

This morning over morning coffee, I was thinking of this song, and realized that not everyone knows about it…Years ago the site sent Rupert a copy of the CD to show him how au courant Anaïs, ever current was still in the hearts of young artists.

Hard to believe that was almost a decade ago!

“Louveciennes has always known how to hide its secrets behind thick walls…”

Le Figaro, March 12th, 1996

Nin’s former home in Louveciennes is for sale…

Check out the listing link and follow the chatter on https://twitter.com/anaisninblog

And from our archives, read about the amazing young woman Barbara Sapp’s valiant effort to save the the home last century.

Many came to the site and filled out petitions in French and English.

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection.”
—Anaïs Nin

This is a greeting card from Paper Lantern..design is done and copyrighted @ Lindsay Whiting 1995 available from:

Paper Lantern
PO Box 1871
Boyes Hot Springs, CA 95416
707-996-0302

We are writing the company to see if we can purchase some
sets…thought others might like to know about the card…on the back is this information about Anaïs:

Anaïs Nin (1903-1977)
Born in Paris to aristocratic artist parents, Nin’s early years were spent in the company of some of the finest artists of the day. In 1914, her father abandoned the family, and Nin emigrated to the U.S. with her mother. On a ship bound for N.Y., Nin began the journal that would evolve into the most acclaimed of her literary career. largely self-taught, she left school at age 15, became a fashion and artist’s model and studied Spanish dance. Nin was intensely

interested in unraveling women’s inner lives. she underwent psychoanalysis, and even became a lay analyst. Along with other writers, she established Siana Editions to publish her work that was thought to be too controversial for the time. Through her novels, essays and short stories, and love affairs with men and women, Nin gained her reputation as a literary artist and sexual icon. She is best known for her relentlessly introspective diaries, comprised of 11 volumes from 1914-1974.

Here is a photo from Amazon.com’s site of someone reading from the new Kindle. The Kindle is an electronic book, which one can tell from the reader reviews (3000 plus!) is really just a slim slate (and this reader swears by hers, although she wasn’t able to “buy” books in places like Guatemala, it still allowed me to read samples of the 250,000 titles they have and which I had downloaded maybe twenty samples. and of course any titles I had already purchased,The real power of the Kindle hasn’t even been tapped, like its name, its a movement that hasn’t even begun to “catch fire” but it already gives a lovely light and definitely is a super way to travel with 100 books in one’s purse or briefcase!

We see, the power of the Kindle in the deals it now makes with publishers when books are requested to be available on the Kindle. The ability for publishers to put their out of print books as well as their current lists on a Kindle and access readers without incurring massive production costs.

Most Kindle titles are $9.99.

Let’s start a Kindle Anaïs Nin revolution. Sign on to our web site and from the bookstore links, ask that the Diaries be available on a Kindle. Follow this link to see a sample link. This may take time and dedication, but we need your help! Everyday,(particularly all you wonderful followers!) log on to the bookstore and go down the list and where it says CLICK HERE TO ORDER just click on and when you see this image of a Kindle check the link that says: Tell the Publisher! I’d like to read this book on Kindle. Let’s not all start with Fire!

Valerie Harms has been kind enough to send on a few postcards from the Celebration weekend.

If you would like a postcard, please send a S.A.S.E. to Anaïs Nin Web Site, PO Box 412 Beverly Shores, IN 46301.
Attention: MC Griffin

Or if you are overseas just send us your name and address on a postcard! We’ll send one back even if you are not in the US.

First fifteen responses will benefit from Valerie’s generosity.

Valerie Harms Five Star Review

(picture of Valerie with Anaïs, cf Valerie’s Memory on our Memories Page)

Valerie Harms reviews Anaïs Nin Character Dictionary and Index to Diary Excerpts by Benjamin Franklin V, published by Sky Blue Press, 2009. This publishing event deserves 5 stars.

We owe premier Nin scholar Dr. Franklin and publisher Paul Herron a huge debt of gratitude for this book. Benjamin Franklin is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of South Carolina. The author of many books about American authors, plus jazz greats, and several books about Anaïs Nin, Professor Franklin now gives us an invaluable reference book.

I wish I’d had it when I was reading all of Nin’s diaries and fiction. Even though I tried to sort out characters myself, especially as I read Nin’s early stories and novel in Northwestern University’s Special Collections Department and eventually compiled Waste of Timelessness and Other Stories as a rare edition. But now the book is available for longterm fans of Nin’s work as well as newcomers.

The character dictionary scrupulously tells who is who and where they are written about. I was especially interested in frequent characters—e.g. Djuna, Jay, Lillith, Lillian, and Sabina. Surprising to me were the frequent references to God and on p.36 the reference for “Don Juan” as “man who hates Dona Juana.”

Part Two gives a list of all Nin’s published fiction as well as a list of the characters who appear in each work. Very helpful.

The final part of the book indexes the diary excerpts that were not indexed in the published Diary of Anaïs Nin. Thus, many of these come from volumes of the Anaïs: An International Journal. Here one can trace the references to Hugh Guiler, Otto Rank, and many others.

This book belongs in the personal library of all those who love Nin’s work and to university and public libraries around the world. This 162 page paperback costs $19.95. Order from your bookstore or visit http://www.skybluepress.com/.

Quotes from reviewers:
This book will help readers more easily understand the origin of the repetitions, continuities and discontinuities within Nin’s oeuvre and to distinguish the intentional from the accidental. – Tristine Rainier, Director, Center for Autobiographic Studies.

Once again, Benjamin Franklin V has meticulously explored the domain into which too few Nin scholars have entered: the domain of facts. His achievement is a major gift to Nin scholars and to the future of Nin criticism. – Philip K. Jason, author of Anaïs Nin and Her Critics.

Additional note: A Café in Space, The Anaïs Nin Literary Journal, Vol. 6, 2009, edited by Paul Herron, is also available from Sky Blue Press. This issue features excerpts from a newly found trove of letters from Anaïs’ father, Joaquin Nin y Castellanos, to Anaïs. It’s fascinating the material available on the Internet now. I recommend viewing the interview with the elderly Bebe Barron at www.youtube.com/user/TheStevenReigns.