LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

 

Dear Donna,

 

On Thursday, November 16, 1978, I was inspired to celebrate a world record set by Sri Chinmoy - artist, author, and poet. He completed 16,031 paintings in 24 hours, in 1975. And I wanted to juggle that amount of balls in one hour, in his honor.

 

So, I got together five friends, complete with stop watches and calculators. After organizing a system with split times every sixty seconds, I began juggling as fast as I could with three balls. By the fifty-eighth minute my goal was reached and at sixty minutes I had completed 16,606 throws. Of course I did drop a few times, and they really turned out to be disadvantages because each second you nearly throw five balls, so any drops work against you when you are trying for numbers. Anyway, it was a delightful experience and I'm happy to share it with you.

 

Also, a friend of mine in New York, Ashrita the Magician, celebrated another record set by Sri Chinmoy. Ashrita juggled three balls for ten hours and thirty-eight minutes, for a grand total of 100,000 throws, with only 27 drops. He did this in honor of Sri Chinmoy's completion of his one hundred thousandth painting.

 

If anyone knows of any other three ball records, I'd be interested to hear about them!

 

Very truly yours,

Gregory DiGiovine, San Francisco, CA

 

Dear Donna DiMeo:

I am a new member of the UA. I joined and received the attached letter [Ed. note: this refers to the welcoming letter sent to all new members.] on October 30, 1978. All of my friends who are IJA-ers received a newsletter, which I did not, after this. I assumed you were as slow at putting names on the mailing list as everyone says you are at putting out newsletters, and thought nothing of it. I then received a call for dues and a 1978 Roster. This said I owe one U.S. dollar and no newsletters will be sent until I paid. I then tried to call you but never found you in. I found this appalling that I could pay seven U.S. dollars and not receive anything and then be asked to pay more money to get newsletters. A .few days later my anger increased when my friends, who according to the call for dues owed a full year's dues, received the January I February newsletter I did not. I will not pay the one U.S. dollar and I want you to correct this deplorable situation immediately. Where I once thought highly of the UA I am now beginning to think it is nothing more than a Mafia-like organiza­tion that extorts money from innocent people.

 

Kelly Gregoriatis

clo Eastern European Jugglers Exchange, Philadelphia, PA

 

Ed. Note: All newsletters sent to K. Gregoriatis were returned to me marked "Addressee Unknown".

 

  

IJA Newsletter:

 

I received your lovely newsletter.

 

I am so happy that the IJA has grown so big. Dr. Crosby and I were around when the IJA  started and we have seen it grow.

 

Dr. Crosby passed away in Sept. 1975, not long after we attended the IJA convention. It was good to see so much progress and your beautiful newsletter confirms this progress.

 

Good luck and long live UA. I hope that IJA­ ers will entertain many audiences to come.

 

As ever,

Mrs. Wm. H. Crosby, Sanford, FL

 

P.S. Wish I could attend convention but when one has lived 88 years one does not like to travel alone.