The Lummox Journal was published monthly from October 1995 to 2003 and then bi-monthly from 2003 to December of 2006... eleven years of small press madness. The stated purpose of the magazine was to "explore the creative process of the artistic mind" through interview and essay, as well as examples of said creativity. It was created by the fledgling poet Raindog as a means of "raising money for postage for submissions to other 'little' mags." That never quite worked out as planned (does it ever).
It began as an 8 ½ by 11 inch photo-copied magazine with crude graphics and a simple paste-up format, put together by Raindog. But in mid-1997, a professional art director known as Yazoota came on board and gave the journal a facelift... reducing it to a digest size (5 ½ by 8 ½) and giving it the look of a professionally produced magazine, even though it rarely exceeded 32 pages. Yazoota continued to work with Raindog until the last issue. He also formatted some of the books published by the Lummox Press, most notably Last Call: The Legacy of Charles Bukowski (2004) and The Wren Notebook (2000).
Over the course of the years, the poetry of hundreds of poets were showcased, as well as the incisive exploration of the creative process of nearly one hundred poets, writers, composers, artists and musicians. Essays on what it means to be a poet on the edge of America in the late 20th Century and the beginning of the 21st were written by the likes of Todd Moore, Jay Alamares, and editor/publisher Raindog AKA RD Armstrong, whose column "The View From Down Here" appeared in every issue.
Each year, the Lummox Journal featured the "best" of the hundreds (some years thousands) of poetry submissions that came in from all over the USA and the world in its All Poetry issue in April.
From 1997 to 2000, the Lummox Journal also published a special Bukowski Remembered issue in August, which featured poems and remembrances from some of the torch bearers of the Bukowski legacy, including: Gerald Locklin, S.A. Griffin, Mike Meloan (who appears in the Bukowski documentary Born Into This) and Raindog.
Some of those interviewed included: Scott Wannberg (Los Angeles poet), Errol Miller (Louisiana poet), John Thomas (Venice beat poet), Weba Garretson (Los Angeles chanteuse) , Charles Plymell (60s publisher and poet), A. D. Winans (70s publisher and SF poet), Linda Lerner (NYC poet and educator), Rick Frausto (LBC found artist), Kristi Martel (SF composer & performer), Lyn Lifshin (the queen of the small press), S.A. Griffin (actor and founder the Carma Bums), J. A. Deanne (New Mexican composer & performer), Tomata du Plenty (New Orleans painter), Philomene Long (Venice beat poet), Todd Moore (Albuquerque, NM poet & essayist), Tony Moffeitt (Outlaw poet and Librarian for the University of Colorado), Gerald Locklin (the king of the small press and retired CSULB professor), Laurel Ann Bogen (poet and lecturer), Paul Krassner (publisher of The Realist), Kell Robertson (cowboy singer and Taos poet), Nelli Chercovski (Bukowski chum and SF poet), Claudio Parentela (Italian artist of world renown), and Dan Fante (Los Angeles poet and writer).
The Lummox Journal was financed entirely by subscription, which kept it small, never exceeding more than 200 copies per issue, but it somehow garnered the appreciation of a much larger audience. Todd Moore, one its most ardent supporters, wrote, "Lummox, since 1995, has continued to be a place where new ideas could be tried out. And in some ways, it has also been much more. Lummox itself has been its own conversation. No matter where or when you plugged into this zine, it was a vital source of ideas and energy."
Michael Kriessel wrote in the Sept-Oct 2005 issue of Small Press Review, "a dependable bi-monthly celebrating its tenth year of hard work and energy. Worth subscribing to if you're serious about Small Press."
And finally from a long-time contributor and subscriber; "whether one is a novice writer, grizzled veteran or a burned out tattooed hippie traveling gasket salesman/poet like me...Lummox should be the go to club in every cosmic golfer's bag." -- G. H. Hill (retired gasket salesman).
It is the hope of the publisher that the LJ will be reborn online in 2007, where it will continue to flourish and reach a much larger audience.
All Poetry issue March/April 2005
double-double issue May/June & July/August 2005
Tenth Anniversary issue Sept/Oct 2005