Today it seems unlikely that a man would be sentenced to six months of imprisonment for saying a naughty word at a poetry reading — in front of the 17-year-old boy who'd written the poem the word contained. But that is what happened to d.a. levy, the iconic 1960s Cleveland poet memorial-ized in d.a. levy & the mimeo-graph revolution by his contemporaries, Larry Smith and Ingrid Swanberg.

Though the book includes some of levy's poetry, which he mimeographed and distributed for sale or for free, it is not a compilation. Including a transcript of a 1967 interview (levy died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1968, at age 26), essays, thoughtful analyses of his work and art, and tribute poems, it shows levy as the center of what the press called the ''beatnik community.'' He was targeted with a secret indictment and persecuted, becoming a cause celebre among law professors and students of the First Amendment.

A DVD of Kon Petrochuk's documentary if i scratch, if i write, which debuted at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, is included. d.a. levy & the mimeograph revolution (276 pages, softcover) costs $25 from Huron's Bottom Dog Press, http://members.aol.com/lsmithdog/bottomdog/, of which Smith is a founder. Swanberg lives in Wisconsin.

Footnotes

• On Monday at Joseph-Beth Booksellers at Legacy Village in Lyndhurst, Ellen Bravo, former director of 9 to 5 and the National Association of Working Women, will sign Taking on the Big Boys. On Tuesday, Cleveland State University professor Charles Hersch will sign Subversive Sounds: Race and the Birth of Jazz in New Orleans, and Wednesday's guest is Aaron David Miller, a former adviser to six secretaries of state, whose book The Much Too Promised Land is described as ''an insider's view of the peace process from a place at the negotiating table.'' All events are at 7 p.m.

• Richard Hasler will sign Surprises Around the Bend: 50 Adventurous Walkers at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Barnes & Noble Bookstore, 4015 Medina Road, Bath Township.

• Case Western Reserve University neurologist Dr. Peter Whitehouse and Oxford University graduate student Daniel George will discuss their book The Myth of Alzheimer's from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday at Laurel Lake Retirement Community, 200 Laurel Lake Drive, Hudson. Reservations are required; call 330-655-1436. The Learned Owl Book Shop is providing the books.

• Cynthia Furlong Reynolds is the first guest in the Learned Owl's Friday Fresh Voices series, which begins with a reception at 5 p.m. Friday for her children's book Oliver's Travels: An Ohio Adventure. The shop is at 204 N. Main St., Hudson.

• Akron author Floriana Hall will be among the exhibitors at the Kent Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Expo from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Kent Roosevelt High School, 1400 N. Mantua St., Kent. The most recent of Hall's 10 books is Francis, Not the Saint, a reworking of her earlier Daddy Was a Bad Boy. Her proceeds will benefit the school's choirs.

• Philosopher Austin Dacey will discuss his book The Secular Conscience 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Brecksville Public Library, 9089 Brecksville Road. The event is hosted by the CFI (Center for Inquiry) Community of Northeast Ohio.

• J.G. Woodward will sign Tumultuous Journey, Poems Along the Way 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Borders, 6751 Strip Ave. N.W., North Canton.

• Siobhan Vivian, author of the Akron-set A Little Friendly Advice, will hold a writing workshop for students ages 11 to 18 on April 14 at the Rocky River Public Library, 1600 Hampton Road. The free program is 7 to 8:30 p.m. Registration is required. Call 440-333-7610, Ext. 252 or visit http://www.rrpl.org for information.
— Barbara McIntyre
Special to the Beacon Journal