James Singer and Carl Larsen were classmates at El Camino Junior College in Torrance California in the early 1950’s. At the time, Singer was running the Henny Penny Press and Larsen was editing Existaria.
Through his Henny Penny Press, Singer published books by Carl Larsen, Seymour Gresser, Leslie Woolf Hedley, and others through the end of the 1950s. During this time he also edited a little magazine called Emergent that ran for 5 issues.
In 1957, James Singer appeared alongside Carl Larsen, Richard Brautigan, and Martin Hoberman in Leslie Woolf Hedley’s FOUR NEW POETS (Inferno Press, 1957).
According to an essay on the 7 Poets Press, written by Carl Larsen, James Singer relocated to Washington DC to take up writing as a profession in the 1960s.
A. Books and Broadsides
GOD WITH A BIG O
Eureka: Hearse Press, 1960
First edition, saddle-stapled illustrated wrappers, 5.5″ x 8.5″, 16 pages, 150 numbered copies. Published as Hearse Chapbook #13. Singer’s first book.
B. Contributions to Books and Anthologies
1. FOUR NEW POETS, edited by Leslie Woolf Hedley
San Francisco: Inferno Press, 1957
First edition, perfect-bound illustrated wrappers, 5.5″ x 8″, 34 pages, Contributors include Martin Hoberman, Carl Larsen, Richard Brautigan, and James M. Singer.
2. EYE POEMS, edited by E.V. Griffith
Eureka: Hearse Press, (c. 1960)
First edition, saddle-stapled wrappers in illustrated wrappers, 5.5? x 8.5?, 16 pages, 100 numbered copies. Contributors include Farley Gay, James M. Singer, Kenneth Lawrence Beaudoin, Carl Larsen, E.V. Griffith, Charles Shaw, Shirley Summerfruct, Mason Jordan Mason.
C. Contributions to Periodicals
Fiddlehead
Harlequin
Hearse
Miscellaneous Man
Quagga
D. Books Edited and Published
1. Gresser, Seymour. THE COMING OF THE ATOM
Redondo Beach: Henny Penny Press, 1957
First edition, saddle-stapled in photo-illustrated wrappers, 5.5? x 8.5?, 32 pages, offset printed. Photographs by Royal Hart. Edited by James Singer. Published as Hennypenny Press Chapbook / Periodical #2.
2. Hedley, Leslie Woolf. POEMS FOR A PASSPORT
Redondo Beach: Henny Penny Press, 1957
First edition, saddle-stapled in printed wrappers, 5.5? x 8.5?, 28 pages, offset printed. Edited by James Singer. Published as Hennypenny Press Chapbook / Periodical #3.
3. Hart, John Barkley. THE FLIGHT OF MR. SUN
Redondo Beach: Henny Penny Press, May 1959
First edition, hardcover in cloth-bound and gilt-stamped boards in printed and illustrated dust jacket, 6.25? x 9.25?, 58 pages, letterpress printed by Villiers. Illustrations by Charles Campbell. Book design by Charles Farrell. Edited by James Singer. Publisher’s prospectus laid in.
4. BEAT GENERATION COOK-BOOK, edited by Carl Larsen and James Singer
New York: 7 Poets Press, 1961
First edition, saddle-stapled sheets tipped in to illustrated wrappers, 5.75″ x 8.75″, 36 pages, offset printed. Includes printed ads for other 7 Poets Press books including Bukowski’s Longshot Poems for Broke Players.
E. Periodicals Edited and Published
EMERGENT, Vol. 1, Nos. 1-5 [No. 3 not issued]
Gardena: Henny Penny Press, 1957
RONGWRONG, Nos. 1-4, edited with Larsen, Carl, O.W. Crane, and Harland Ristau
New York: 7 Poets Press, 1960-62