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ZMMQuality WebSite: Information Concerning
*** Zen and the Art of ***
Motorcycle Maintenance
** by Robert Pirsig **
Home Page: Fors ZMM Quality WebSite
SUMMARY=>How Find Way In This ZMMQ Site
SUMMARY=> Robert Pirsig Zen Art Motorcycle Maint.
Celebrate: Robert Pirsig’s July1968 Motorcycle Trek
SUMMARY=>Experts & Readers Provide Guidance
SUMMARY=>SpecialStudies Zen Art Motorcycle Maint
SUMMARY=>Memories: Dennis Gary English MSU
SUMMARY=>Research Montana State UniversityMSU
SUMMARY=>“Pirsig Pilgrims”&“Fellow ZMM Travelers”
AFTER Above Link ComeUp, GoTo ''Zen and..Last Hurrah” SUMMARY=>Maps+Info: ZMM Travel & Mountain Climb
Resources: Pirsig & Zen Art of Motorcycle Maint.
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Thanks To Persons Who Created & Supported ZMMQ PLEASE NOTICE: THE FOLLOWING 4 HANDY LINKS: ALSO PLEASE NOTICE THESE SAME 4 HANDY LINKS: BOTTOM EVERY ZMMQ PAGE TO ACCESS PHOTO ALBUMS,
 Author Robert Pirsig’s Own 12 Color Photos, Of His 1968 ZMM Travel Route Trip: Each Is Written-Into His ZMM Book. AFTER the 5 Albums Cones Up, Read & ClickOn 2nd Down.  My ZMM Travel Route Research Findings, Are A Page-By-Page, Color Photo Illustrated ZMM. AFTER the 5 Albums Cones Up, Read & ClickOn Top Album.  ZMM Travel Route Research PANORAMIC PHOTOS 7ft wide! Henry Gurr, 2002 ZMM Research Trip. AFTER the 5 Albums Cones Up, Read & ClickOn 2nd Down.  Henry Gurr’s 2002 Research Photos: California Gold Rush Trail & Oregon Trail. AFTER the 5 Albums Cones Up, Read & ClickOn 3rd Down.  California Gold RushTrail & Pioneer Oregon Trail PANORAMIC PHOTOS 7ft wide! Henry Gurr, 2002 ZMM RETURN Trip. AFTER the 5 Albums Cones Up, Read & ClickOn Top Album.  In Honor of ZMM Narrator’s Emphasis: 225 Color Photos of ZMM Travel Route Flowers & Red Wing Blackbirds. AFTER the 5 Albums Cones Up, Read & ClickOn 5th Down.  My 2002 ZMM Travel Route Experience: By Henry Gurr ZMMQ Site Master. AFTER the 5 Albums Cones Up, Read & ClickOn 3rd Down.  Mark Richardson’s 19 July 2004, ZMM Route Trip & Photo Journal. AFTER the 5 Albums Cones Up, Read & ClickOn 5th Down.  John & Sylvia Sutherland of “The ZMM Book”: 18Potos Of Former Minneapolis Home>2649 South Colfax Ave, AFTER the 5 Albums Cones Up, Read & ClickOn 4th Down.  Site Master Henry Gurr's Campus: Photos Of Two Buildings (of 32 total), University of South Carolina Aiken. AFTER the 5 Albums Cones Up, Read & ClickOn 2nd Down. A 105 Photo Tour of Science Building
 Software We Used ~2002, In Creating and Maintaining This ZMMQ WebSite: Illustrated & Explained. AFTER the 5 Albums Cones Up, Read & ClickOn Top Albun.  1947-60: Photos of MSC Faculty & Sarah Vinke (Vinki Vinche Finche Finch) In Hawaiian WIKI MEANS => Quick N’ Easy N’ Better! For Anything You Do!!
ZMMQ Site => Various UN-Complete Work In Process Revised}DaveMatos130715+HenryGurr140227;16036;170214;180920;181127,200217,200312, 200318, 200831, 210626, 220508,220926,240209-12 , 240319-21, 240530, 240914.--]
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 Welcome to ZMM Quality! Teaching, Learning, and Exploring the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.Here you will find photos, travel information, essays, and links to => A great many resources concerning the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZMM) by Robert Pirsig. This information has been collected through the collaborative efforts of many people. If you are one of those persons, Pirsig enthusiasts around the world thank you! Explore this site and see what the efforts of so many Quality-minded people have accomplished! Connect with ZMMQuality via Social Media!Join the community discussing all things Pirsig and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
2024 Marks 50 Years of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle MaintenanceNext year, April 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig. ZMMQuality encourages Pirsig fans worldwide to celebrate this occasion by taking it into their own hands… from rereading Zen, to hosting Chautauquas, to retracing the Zen route via motorcycle in July. More details and resources here soon. Aug 2023 Pirsig Pilgrim Documentary Entered in Toronto Film Festival, Available OnlinePete Blasdale's hour long documentary Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Touring has been selected for the Toronto Motorcycle Film Festival (TMFF), one of seven featured films. The documentary follows Pirsig Pilgrim and Kiwi Des Molloy on his 2006 retrace of the Zen ride with a vintage Honda CB77 Superhawk and a BMW R69S. Des recounts the experience in his 2021 book Zen and the Last Hurrah: In the Wheel-Tracks of Robert Pirsig Across Back Country America, including many passages from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
June 2023 Pirsig Student at Montana State Shares Memories, CorrespondenceMontana writer James Ostby was a freshman student in one of Robert M. Pirsig's English composition classes at Montana State College in the Fall quarter of 1959. James was kind enough to share his recollections and some of his correspondence with Pirsig, available to read here: http://venturearete.org/ResearchProjects/ProfessorGurr/Documents/JamesOstbyInPirsigClass
June 2023 Pirsig Pilgrim Retraces Zen Route on Electric BikePirsig Pilgrim Greg Hassler retraced the ZMM Route with his daughter Julia in July 2020 riding a Zero Motorcycles electric bike. Greg did a good amount of research in preparation and made a video blog of their travels. Check out his website here:
Recent Articles"What can we learn from the philosophers of the open road?" asks long distance motorcyclist J.R. Patterson in “The Biker's Bible" published March 2, 2023 in the New Humanist. Patterson takes a deep look into Robert M. Pirsig's quest for Quality in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and contrasts it with Ted Simon's Jupiter's Travels. Anastasia Rose Hyden looks into ”The Long History of the the Figurative “Literally” and 8 Great Writers Who Used It” published March 20, 2023 by Mental Floss. Of course, Robert M. Pirsig is included among those writers. Steven Mintz’s “Making Mastery a Core Education Value” published May 18, 2023 in Inside Higher Education credits Robert M. Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance with making a contribution to the question "What is the value of originality, authenticity, uniqueness and craftsmanship in today’s digital world? A review of Adam Gopnik's book The Real Work: The Mystery of Mastery, Mintz’s article itself is worth the read while Gopnik's ideas discussed in this article might be a good complement to Pirsig's critique of education. Gumption Garage? "ARC Garage, which began in 1977 as a social experiment for a new kind of automotive repair garage... Originally, no payment was accepted for services; customers would instead come in and receive guidance on how to repair their vehicles. “It put production in the hands of the workers,” said Tom Stringer, a longtime mechanic at ARC Garage." “ARC Garage Closes” was published March 8, 2023 in the Daily Hampshire Gazette. No mention of Pirsig, but adjacent ideas. May 2023 Video by Mechanic Who Restored Pirsig’s MotorcycleSteven Michaelis restored Robert M. Pirsig's 1964 Honda CB77 Super Hawk motorcycle after 35 years of being left in a barn. This is the motorcycle Pirsig and his son Chris rode west in 1968 on that epic trip described in his1974 novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Michaelis recorded this video right before loading it up and returning it to Pirsig. The motorcycle was donated to the Smithsonian after Pirsig passed away and will undoubtedly be the star of the Smithsonian's exhibit for the 50th anniversary of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance to open in 2024. Thanks to John Cheston for sharing this video with us on Twitter. April 2023
…A) GoogleEarth 3D Viewing Of A “Mountain Climbing Route of Chris and the Narrator, In The Gallatin National Forest (GNF) South of Bozeman, MT. This Route Fits Mountain Climb Narrative, In The Book Zen and the Art Or Motorcycle Maintenance (ZMM) by Robert Pirsig.”
If You Don't Have The Resources Or Time To Climb The Trail, Or Even Drive There!
…B) GoogleEarth 3D Viewing Of ZMM Book Route Along Montana & Wyoming’s Beartooth Highway From => ZMM Town Of Laurel, MT To Highest Parts Of The Beartooth Plateau (~11,000 ft Elevation). And then To East Gate Of Yellowstone National Park, Go By YNP’s Mammoth Hot Springs Calcite Formations, And Then To ZMM Town Of Gardener, MT.
…C) GoogleEarth 3D Viewing of “ZMM Route” => Starting ZMMQ Photo Album Part 4 at 18 miles west of Leggett, CA. And then continuing Along the Mountainous California Coast To > Mendocino, CA. Then Inland To Ukiah, CA. And Then Via US-101 > San Francisco. Click Here. Mar 2023 Yellowstone Art Museum Exhibits DeWeese Art, Montana ModernistsThe Yellowstone Art Museum (YAM) in Billings, MT is hosting a Montana Modernists exhibit curated by art historian Michele Corriel, author of Montana Modernists: Shifting Perceptions of Western Art, a book just listed as an Honor Book by the Montana Book Award. Art in the exhibit is drawn mostly from the museum's own extensive collection, including all six artists profiled in Corriel's book: Isabelle Johnson, Bill Stockton, Jessie Wilber, Frances Senska, and of course Robert and Gennie DeWeese. Pirsig fans will remember the DeWeeses as his Bozeman, MT friends from his time teaching at Montana State described in his book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. The Montana Modernists exhibit at the Yellowstone Art Museum runs through June 11, 2023. Learn more: "Curating a Community: Book, YAM Celebrate Montana Modernists" by Jake Iverson, Billings Gazette, Feb 6, 2023. Mar 2023 New Documentary of Pirsig Pilgrim Des Molloy's 2006 RidePete Blasdale's hour long documentary Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Touring screened March 5th in Takaka, New Zealand. The film follows Pirsig Pilgrim and Kiwi Des Molloy on his 2006 retrace of the Zen ride with a vintage Honda CB77 Superhawk and a BMW R69S. Des recounts the experience in his 2021 book Zen and the Last Hurrah: In the Wheel-Tracks of Robert Pirsig Across Back Country America, including many passages from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. View a short trailer about the documentary here: https://youtu.be/nX8z5GdjLZg
Jan 2023 Recent Column Describes ZMM As Book Worth Re-ReadingNorth Carolina writer O.C. Stonestreet describes three books he re-reads every year: Homer's The Odyssey, Robert M. Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and William Least Heat-Moon's Blue Highways.
Jan 2023 ZMMQuality’s Top 10 of 20221. On Quality: An Inquiry into Excellence, Selected and Unpublished Writings by Robert M. Pirsig, edited by Wendy K. Pirsig published 5 years after his passing.
Honorable Mention:
Dec 2022 Archival Video of Robert M. Pirsig Talk in 1974 EmergesAn incredible hour-long video of Robert M. Pirsig speaking at the Minneapolis College of Art May 20, 1974 just a month after the publication of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was just posted to YouTube by Ted Pirsig, Robert's son, from newly digitized archival footage found by Wendy Pirsig. We see him speak on "the book he didn't write and the book he did write." A transcript of this talk makes up the first chapter, Introduction: The Right Way, in On Quality: An Inquiry into Excellence, Unpublished and Selected Writings by Robert M. Pirsig, edited by Wendy K. Pirsig. We also see in the video, Pirsig, who struggled with stagefright, temporizing with the audience before beginning his talk sans introduction. We've often been asked "what was Pirsig like?" This video perhaps gives the best glimpse. Special thanks to Ian Glendinning of the Psybertron Pirsig Page blog for alerting us.
Oct 2022 The New Yorker Publishes Article Reexamining Pirsig"Returning Again, to Robert M. Pirsig" by Jay Caspian Kang, published in The New Yorker Oct 25, 2022, reexamines Pirsig's search for Quality.
On Quality: Posthumous Collection of Robert M. Pirsig’s Writings Published 5 Years After His PassingRobert M. Pirsig's posthumous book On Quality: An Inquiry into Excellence, Unpublished and Selected Writings by Robert M. Pirsig, edited by his wife Wendy K. Pirsig, was published on Tuesday April 26th just after the 5th anniversary of Robert's passing. "Now for the first time, readers will be granted access to five decades of Pirsig’s personal writings in this posthumous collection that illuminates his thinking to an unprecedented degree. Skillfully edited and introduced by Wendy Pirsig, Robert’s wife of over forty years, the collection includes previously unpublished texts, speeches, letters, interviews, and private notes (including from Pirsig’s time in the mental hospital), as well as key excerpts from Zen and the Art of the Motorcycle Maintenance and his second book, Lila." On Quality Related Updates:News related to the new book On Quality: An Inquiry into Excellence, Unpublished and Selected Writings by Robert M. Pirsig, edited by Wendy K. Pirsig.
Aug 2022 New Rock Musical Inspired by Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"Staring Into Nothing, the new musical/rock opera, explores the impact of mass media, social media and the digital information age on the quality of our lives …The idea of writing a musical/rock opera that explores the philosophical concept of "Quality" began with one of Steve's favorite books: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig." The rock opera will debut a Los Angeles’s El Portal theatre in October. New Musical “Staring Into Nothing” Set to Debut at the El Portal Theatre” Aug 2022 Previously Unreleased Photo by John Sutherland SurfacesThe Sutherland family has provided ZMMQuality with a previously unreleased image that appears to be from the 1968 motorcycle trip west described in the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig. Sylvia Sutherland is on left wearing sun glasses; Robert M. Pirsig is on right wearing his black beret which he mentions once in the book. Pirsig's cycle is his 1966 Honda CB77 Superhawk. The Sutherlands' BMW R60/2 cycle is obscured by its load of luggage, one of the indications that this image is probably from that 1968 road trip. The image is taken from a copy, not the original photo. John Sutherland was an avid photographer, and took many photos from that famous motorcycle ride west but is often not credited for them. The family has set up a Facebook memorial page for John Sutherland. ZMMQuality Website UpdatesJan 2023
Aug 2022
June 2022
Updated Aug 2022 Recent ArticlesProfile of preservationist Margie Smith who helped save the “great stack of the Anaconda smelter” in Anaconda, MT as mentioned in Ch. 22 of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
Yellowstone saw torrential rain and flooding in June that washed out roads, devastated infrastructure and closed sections of the national park. Northern Yellowstone and the towns of Gardiner, Cooke City, and Red Lodge, MT were particularly hard hit. These are towns Robert M. Pirsig and company passed through on July 12, 1968 riding the Beartooth Highway on the motorcycle trip described in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Their economies are highly dependent on summer tourist traffic. “Yellowstone’s Gateway Communities Seeing Economic Impact from Flooding Closures” For journalist Jake Godin, long motorcycle treks taking the secondary roads is a family affair. Note how this Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance fan almost unconsciously paraphrases Robert M. Pirsig's oft quoted lines about the experience on a motorcycle. Nice reference to William Least Heat-Moon's Blue Highways as well. "Jake Godin Takes Long + Winding Roads" Doug Bates examines Aristotle's influence on Ancient Greek thought and introduces us to the school of Pyrrhonism that he argues Robert M. Pirsig would have found a good fit with in “Robert Pirsig and the Ancient Greeks Who Also Knew Aristotle Was Messing with Our Minds.” Bates is the author of Pyrrho’s Way: The Ancient Greek Version of Buddhism …a link to the intro of his book is at the end of the article. Austin, TX based psychologist and writer Dr. David Zuniga explains how Robert M. Pirsig’s book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance convinced him to to take up Zen Buddhism in his Zen for Daily Living column in the Austin American Statesman: Zen for Daily Living ZMM. (July 2022) June 2022 Dennis Davis Video Posted on MSU, Pirsig & ZMMCloud Nine Media Arts film producer Dennis Davis’s short clip (1 min 40 sec) entitled MSU, Robert Pirsig & ZMM is newly posted to YouTube. The video isn’t just an introduction to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Robert Pirsig’s goals with the book, but also is a good introduction to ZMMQuality’s Henry Gurr and why he wrote a biography of Pirsig’s Montana State colleague Sarah Vinke. MSU, Robert Pirsig & ZMM. May 2022 Enviable Photos from ZMM Fan’s Pilgrimage to Bozeman, MTZen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance fan Jason Kirin shared the following photos from a trip he took to Bozeman, MT last year: Jason Kirin’s Photos Apr 2022 New Video from ZMMQuality’s Henry Gurr, “Theory of How Our Mind Works”As you will eventually come to realize, Mr. Robert Pirsig’s two books Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Lila have practically the beginnings of a “Theory of How Our Mind Works”, AND have conclusions that nicely support Henry Gurr’s "View (Theory) of How Our Mind Works”. In this video, Henry Gurr presents a lecture titled: “Based on Direct Observation: A New, Vital View (Theory) Into ‘How Our Mind Works In the Creation of Conscious Awareness’: A Description With Audience Participation, Mind Demonstrations, But Mostly Not An Explanation.” Links to further reading are supplied with this video. VIDEO: Theory of How Our Mind Works. Jan 2022 Video Walk-Through of DeWeese Art Exhibit PostedA video walkthrough of the recent "Friends Reunited" show at the Marguerite Kirk & Paul Harris Gallery featuring the modern art of Robert DeWeese, Gennie DeWeese, and Paul Harris, video courtesy of art historian Michele Corriel and Sarah Friedrich. Tina DeWeese comments... "As I've told Michele many times, being in this gallery with this work made me feel like being in the archetypal living room of my life! Such a comfort to see this work up on the wall again. Like Mom and Dad's studios through the years, this work is presented as spontaneously as they produced it...as if, in her curatorial genius, Michele caught the same wave that carried them through the decades of spirit and vitality of their times. Much gratitude again to Michele and Sarah and Paul Harris and family for making this show happen." VIDEO: “Friends Reunited” Exhibit. Michele Corriel's book on modern artists in Montana that includes the DeWeeses is set to be published soon. Jan 2022 ZMMQuality’s Top 9 of 20211.Posthumous RMP Book On Quality to Be Published in 2022
Dec 2021 Dennis Davis Video of Road to the DeWeeses Posted to ZMMQuality Facebook PageVideo from Dennis Davis of Pirsig's Journey of the road to the DeWeese home in the Cottonwood Canyon of Gallatin Gateway in Montana. Imagine a couple motorcycles cruising up this road to visit the DeWeeses, Robert and Gennie, artists and old friends of Robert M. Pirsig. Davis shot the footage by mounting a drone on the roof of his car. Pirsig's Journey is a project to create a documentary about Robert M. Pirsig and his book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. We encourage anyone so inclined to donate to support the project. Learn more here: Pirsig’s Journey website
Dec 2021 Friend’s Blog Gives Insight into Robert Pirsig, Nancy James PirsigFascinating glimpses of Robert M. Pirsig and especially his first wife Nancy James Pirsig from life-long friend artist Carol Gearing AKA Caroling. A true treasure trove of memories. Caroling Blog Dec 2021 LA Review of Books Editor Picks ZMM Essay for Philosophy Top Ten ListIn celebration of its 10th anniversary, the LA Review of Books asked their editors to select their top ten articles. We're not surprised that Philosophy and Comparative Studies editor Costica Bradatan picked "Zen and the Art of Higher Education" by Jennifer Ratner Rosenhagen for her list. Published the summer after Robert M. Pirsig's passing in 2018, Ratner Rosenhagen's essay eloquently answered the question "What value does Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance have today?", a fitting tribute to Pirsig's legacy. Zen and the Art of Higher Education. Dec 2021 New On Quality Cover Posted on Amazon Preorder WebsiteA new cover has been posted for On Quality: An Inquiry into Excellence, Unpublished and Selected Writings by Robert M. Pirsig, edited by Wendy K. Pirsig on the Amazon preorder website.. The posthumous volume will be released in April 2022 just after the 5th anniversary of Robert M. Pirsig's passing in 2017. Preorder is available from Amazon here. Nov 2021 NEW TESTIMONIAL ON READING ZMM 42 YEARS LATERSpecial thanks to Clive PL Young for sharing the following testimonial: ON REREADING ZMM 42 YEARS LATER
Nov 2021 Smithsonian Archivist Publishes Article on Robert M. Pirsig and MotorcyclesThe Smithsonian's Paul F. Johnston worked closely with the Pirsig family to document Robert M. Pirsig's relationship with the motorcycle, published in the International Journal of Motorcycle Studies. Much detail about Pirsig's life and many, many previously unreleased photos. Pirsig fans will want read the lengthy article in full: "Chrome and Black and Dusty: Robert Pirsig’s Motorcycle Heritage."
Nov 2021 Buffalo Reintroduced at Rocky Boy ReservationEleven buffalo were reintroduced to the Chippewa-Cree Rocky Boy Reservation in Montana. Robert M. Pirsig writes about his Montana State College colleague Verne Dusenberry in his second book Lila: An Inquiry into Morals: "The only subject he spoke about with any sincere enthusiasm was Indians, particularly the Rocky Boy Indians, the Chippewa-Cree on the Canadian border about whom he was writing his Ph.D thesis in anthropology. He let it be known that except for the Indians he befriended for twenty-one years of his twenty-three years as a teacher he regarded all these years as a waste of his life.” We wish to congratulate the Chippewa-Cree Rocky Boy Reservation on sustaining and renewing their traditions with the introduction of these buffalo. Learn more: Montana Chippewa-Cree Tribe Welcomes Return of Bison to Tribal Lands. Oct 2021 30th Anniversary of Lila’s PublicationThis October marks the 30th anniversary of Robert M. Pirsig’s second novel, Lila: An Inquiry into Morals, published originally in 1991. Lila saw a long 17-year gestation as a follow up to Pirsig’s smash success with 1974’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. In the novel, Pirsig further develops his ideas on Quality and articulates a Metaphysics of Quality (MOQ). Although championed by many Pirsig fans, Lila never matched the popularity of Pirsig’s first novel. A darker and more brooding vision, Lila was undoubtedly influenced by Pirsig's real life experiences that followed the meteoric success of his first novel, the break up of his marriage and the tragic, untimely death of his son Chris. Pirsig’s protagonist trades the company of a motorcycle ride west for the isolation and contemplation of a sailboat journey down the Hudson. ZMMQuality will mark Lila’s 30th Anniversary with some special new content. MOQ expert and editor of Lila’s Child: An Inquiry into Quality, Dan Glover Reflects on Lila's 30th Anniversary in a new essay special to ZMMQuality. We’ll publish a new online comprehensive index to further the study of Lila and Pirsig’s ideas in the book. And, finally, this will be the second year we celebrate #LilaOctober via our social media channels, pairing visuals and passages from the novel. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @ZMMQuality. Aug 2021 Yellowstone Art Museum features Gennie DeWeese’s in Matriarchs of Modernism ExhibitThe Yellowstone Art Museum hosted an excellent Matriarchs of Modernism exhibit this summer featuring the art. of Gennie DeWeese among others. Ceramics artist Josh DeWeese, the DeWeeses' youngest son, gave a presentation on his mother for the museum's Gallery Conversations series. We can't improve on Tina DeWeese's description... "[This] excellent talk by my brother Josh is a thorough and generous biographical overview of the life and art of our mother. He offers insight into the cultural spirit of the times that influenced Mom's lifetime of dedication and passion as a painter and printmaker. Together with her life partner and father of their five kids, Gennie and Bob became a hub of local, state and national community of artists and like minded liberal thinkers of the times. "Josh's unique perspective as the youngest of five offers crucial and familial insight into the complexity and vitality of their lives. He was deeply influenced by their fundamental premise that ART and LIFE are one and the same, and his life has become testimony to the scribbled note in one of Dad's journals: 'responsibility is the ability to respond'." VIDEO: Matriarchs of Modernism, Josh DeWeese on Gennie DeWeese. Pirsig fans will remember that the narrator in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance visits with the DeWeeses when he comes to Bozeman. This also happened in real life in 1968 when Josh DeWeese was still a small child and as documented in Robert M. Pirsig's own photos from that trip. Aug 2021 DeWeese Papers Donated to MSU LibraryRobert and Gennie DeWeese, Robert M. Pirsig's friends in Bozeman, MT featured in his book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", brought modern art to Montana and were the ringleaders for a social circle of artists and intellectuals who they often entertained at their Cottonwood Canyon home. Some 63 boxes of materials including artwork, exhibition materials and personal correspondence were compiled by daughter Tina DeWeese and donated to the Montana State University Library. The Library has announced the materials are now available for researchers. Learn more: Bob and Gennie DeWeese Papers Open for Research at MSU Library Posthumous Robert M. Pirsig Book On Quality to Be Published in 2022Robert M. Pirsig's final book, "On Quality: An Inquiry into Excellence: Selected and Unpublished Writings" co-authored with his wife Wendy K. Pirsig is slated to be published by Harper Collins in April 2022. It available for preorder on Amazon (link below). Here is the Harper Collins promotional copy for the new book... “The ultimate goal in the pursuit of excellence is enlightenment.” Robert M. Pirsig wrote this unpublished line in 1962 while a patient at Downey Veteran Administration Hospital in Illinois, where he was admitted as a psychiatric patient. More than a decade before the release of the book that would make him famous, Pirsig had already caught hold of the central theme that would animate Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: Quality, a concept loosely likened to “excellence,” “rightness,” or “fitness” that Pirsig saw as kindred to the Buddhist ideas of “Dharma” or the “Tao.” As he later wrote in Zen, “Quality is Buddha.” Though he was hounded by fans who considered him a guru, the famously private Pirsig only published two books and consented to few interviews and almost no public appearances in later decades. Yet he wrote and thought almost continually, refining his “Metaphysics of Quality” until his death in 2017. Now for the first time, readers will be granted access to five decades of Pirsig’s personal writings in this posthumous collection that illuminates his thinking to an unprecedented degree. Skillfully edited and introduced by Wendy Pirsig, Robert’s wife of over forty years, the collection includes previously unpublished texts, speeches, letters, interviews, and private notes (including from Pirsig’s time in the mental hospital), as well as key excerpts from Zen and the Art of the Motorcycle Maintenance and his second book, Lila. Since its publication in 1974, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance has established itself as a modern classic of popular philosophy; selling millions of copies and transforming a generation, while serving as a perennial touchstone for the generations that follow. On Quality is a remarkable addition to the literary and philosophical canon, from one of the most influential thinkers and writers of our time. Apr 2021 Des Molloy Publishes New Book on his Pirsig Pilgrim ExperiencePirsig Pilgrim Des Molloy's new book entitled Zen and the Last Hurrah: In the Wheel-tracks of Robert Pirsig Across Backcountry America was published in April 2021. Molloy is particularly happy he was able to secure the rights to reprint portions of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig to illustrate portions of the ride. A Kiwi from New Zealand, Molloy's earlier book The Last Hurrah: From Beijing to Arnhem details a 2005 ride from China to Holland on vintage British motorcycles. He's also the author of No One Said it Would Be Easy: A Youthful Folly Across the America on Old Bikes. Check out this blog post for a preview of his new book here....
Originally Posted March 2021, Updated Oct 2021. Jan 2021 Top 8 of 20201. Influential literary critic George Steiner passes away at the age of 90.
Dec 2020 Pirsig Gear from 1968 Trip, Tools to Be AuctionedMecum Auctions has listed one lot of Pirsig's personal affects to be auctioned on January 29, 2021 in Las Vegas, including the rain suit and motorcycle goggles he used on the 1968 trip his book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was based on, as mentioned in Chapter 4 of the book. The auction will also include many of Pirsig's own tools, manuals, signed copies of his novels Zen and Lila, as well as discarded draft pages from Lila. A lifelong tinkerer, some of the tools are handmade by Pirsig himself, and reflect his ingenuity and frugality. The announcement of the auction comes one year after a trove of Pirsig artifacts were donated to the Smithsonian: along with Pirsig's Honda CB77 Superhawk motorcycle, his leather jacket from that trip, maps, shop manuals, tools and toolboxes, manuscripts and a signed copy of a first edition of Zen were donated to the national museum.
Please see our News Archive for previous news items.RIP Robert M. Pirsig (1928-2017) Here is a link to an obituary of Robert Pirsig, including an excellent pictureAt several points in the obituary are blue text hyperlinks which you, the reader, are very much encouraged to click on and follow! The following lines, down until the link, are taken from the obituary which is a very well-done and comprehensive article. “The book is not, as I think you now realize from your correspondence with other publishers, a marketing man’s dream,” the editor at William Morrow wrote in a congratulatory note before its 1974 publication. He was wrong. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values sold 50,000 copies in three months and more than 5 million in the decades since. The tome has been translated into at least 27 languages. A reviewer for the New Yorker likened its author to Herman Melville. Its popularity made Pirsig “probably the most widely read philosopher alive,” a British journalist wrote in 2006. Pirsig, a perfectionist who published only one major work after Zen but inspired college classes, academic conferences and a legion of “Pirsig pilgrims” who retrace the anguished, cross-country motorcycle trip at the heart of his novel, died Monday at his home in South Berwick, Maine, the Associated Press confirmed. He was 88 and had been in failing health. A Very Good Interview with Robert Pirsig, Possibly his Last.This new interview, by Tim Adams, contains information not previously seen.
This interview also contains Tim Adams’s own summary and observations regarding his conversation with Robert Pirsig. An interesting list of "ZMM Facts" comes at the end of the article. If you are a beginner, one of your first visits should be the pages opened by the links directly below:1) For a brief introduction to the contents of the ZMM Quality Website see ZMMQ Site For Beginners.
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Please Do Not Hesitate to Send an E-mail to HenryG*usca.edu (replace the asterisk with the appropriate character).Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on the ZMM Quality Website and and/or in association with the Robert Pirsig Photographs are entirely those of the Site Master, Henry Gurr. The contents of the site have not been approved by the University of South Carolina Aiken. For more information, click on Legal and Copyright in the links menu at upper left. Click here to return to the top of this Home Page:
Click here to go to the first albums of my Robert Pirsig and ZMM Photo Gallery: http://venturearete.org/ResearchProjects/ProfessorGurr/gallery/ For additional information on the projects above, and for information on many other ZMM-related topics equally worthy of attention, click here to go to my ZMMQ News and News Archive Page:
Links to Additional Reading Related to the Above MaterialZMMQ Pages Containing Additional Historical Information:1) Documents and Articles Concerning Sarah Vinke, Louis Vinke, and Robert Pirsig Found in the Archives at MSC/MSU and Tulane University 2) Photos of Faculty, Administrators, and Students at Montana State College: 1956-1960 3) “Books I’ve Enjoyed” by Sarah Jennings Vinke, with added commentary by Dennis Gary and Henry Gurr (Originally published, 1960, in the Montana Library Association Journal) 4) Commentary Regarding “Books I’ve Enjoyed” and Information About Viewing on the Internet
5) Henry Gurr’s Montana State University Archives Page 6) Pirsig Memory “The Divine Sarah” 7) Shirley Luhrsen and Sarah Vinke: Letters to and from Bozeman ZMMQ Pages by Dennis Gary, a Former Student of Dr. Sarah Vinke at MSC/MSU:8) Archives Commentary and Connections to Memories of Sarah Vinke, Louis Vinke, Allan Kittell, and Robert Pirsig 9) The Sarah Vinke of My Student Days A Student’s Memories of “Mrs.” Professor Sarah Vinke 10) Following the Footsteps of My Mentor, Professor Sarah Vinke: My Life as an English Teacher, and Other Memories 11) Dennis Gary’s Values in Thought and Action: My Standards at School and in My Career 12) Memories of Deer Creek Mountain Ranch (an MSC Faculty Outing) Websites Devoted to Robert Pirsig:13) Robert Pirsig Association Robert Pirsig Assoc. under construction 14) Ian Glendinning’s Pirsig Pages on Psybertron 15) Gary Wegner’s Travelogue of Pirsig’s 1968 Motorcycle Trip Edit by David M. 30 Aug 2023.
Edit by David M. 20 Mar 2023. Edit by David M. 30 Aug 2023.
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