Steve Diamond, Raymond Mungo, Susan Stern (Dalsimer), ca.1969
Famous Long Ago launched the literary career of Raymond Mungo with a splash, but even before the book had reached the shelves, he turned to his next project. In October 1969, Mungo began planning for a memoir that would recount a year in the life of the Packer Corners commune where he then lived, a memoir that would become a classic in the literature of the 1960s counterculture. While talk of a movie based on Famous Long Ago swirled around the commune, and with the Atlantic and several other publishing firms circling in hopes of taking on the second book, Mungo signed a contract in November with E.P. Dutton. There, he worked with a young and sympathetic editor, Susan Stern (later Susan Dalsimer).
The manuscript for what would become Total Loss Farm developed rapidly during the winter months of 1969-1970, and even as the writing and editing were in full swing, Mungo hardly remained still. In January, he traveled to the West Coast, only to be disappointed by California, and he spent most of May with Verandah Porche and Helene on a trip to Switzerland and Scotland, where he stayed at a commune with Peter McLardy and others. Both trips became integral to the narrative. During editing, Stern was a steady sounding board, shepherding through the process of book design and cover illustration until Total Loss Farm finally went to press in May 1970.
From the guide to the Susan Dalsimer Papers MS 578., 1969-1970, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries)
