[Michael Juster]

Undoubtedly, as Eratosphere's first moderator, I have a somewhat sentimental view of the history here. In the first few years I remember it as a small, closely knit group; our reputation rose due to the courtesy and content of the critiques. As we mushroomed, those qualities continued with the addition of moderators Tim Murphy, Alan Sullivan, Alicia Stallings & many talented others.

In my view, which many do not share, the addition of General Talk, without a restriction of the talk to poetry, made Eratosphere a platform for politics. Soon the civility was gone, Alex rarely enforced the ad hominem rule, and many of the key people left.

I myself was driven off for many years by bullying driven by anger & extreme politics.

[Jim Moonan]

Originally Posted by Michael Juster

I remember it as a small, closely knit group; our reputation rose due to the courtesy and content of the critiques. As we mushroomed, those qualities continued with the addition of moderators Tim Murphy, Alan Sullivan, Alicia Stallings & many talented others... without a restriction of the talk to poetry, made Eratosphere a platform for politics. Soon the civility was gone... I myself was driven off for many years by bullying driven by anger & extreme politics.

Those early days sound to me to be attractively heady, sans the anger and bullying. The web in 2000 was a wild new place for poetry to manifest itself and the stars aligned to become the Eratosphere. I, likely, would have been given short-shrift in the early days of verbal melee. But maybe not... I think the Sphere has, for now, reached a tenuous balance. It continues to ebb and flow, attracting new members but retaining only those who have a thirst for robust, thoughtful, civil discussion about all things poetry. There are so many less than satisfying poetry forums, imo.

Every now and then someone refers to that period of the Sphere’s existence with the same mixed feelings as you do. Every so often, too, someone laments its passing. For some who were driven away by the vitriol it sometimes spewed, it’s hard to recover. The best one can do, I think, is to turn the wound into a scar. And avoid it like the plague it is going forward.

I am a poet with only modest skills. There are many poets here more talented than I. But I am a poet who easily soars when engaged in conversations about the art of poetry. I have so much to learn and the Sphere has been a living library for me. It is a bastion for poetic thought that I visit like I do a favorite shop with an ever-changing inventory but consistently high-quality items.

I was involved in the early days of the TEDTalks discussion forum which ultimately tore itself apart and shut down in 2018 due to the vicious negativity. I made a few friends there that I’m still in touch with. I was wounded there more than once. I might have wounded someone. Those wounds are now scars.

Michael, on a lighter note, I received your children’s book Girlatte recently. It's a wonderful children's story that will be nested in the Easter basket of my grandchild.

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