The Dan Jaffe Collection was gifted to the LaBudde Special Collections in March, 2011.Materials date from the 1940’s to 2011, with the bulk of the material ranging 1960 to 1990.Within lies a culmination of literary capital from the inspirational career and a life of creativity by a publisher, scholar, mentor and wordsmith guru. Included are correspondence,published and unpublished manuscripts, plays, operas, graphics, photographs and miscellaneouspublications. In addition to the Jaffe manuscripts are the works of various other authors gathered for publication by the BkMk Press,of which Jaffe was managing editor. The poetry is limitless and ready access to the knowledge and methodology used during the creative writing process is enlightening. Of particular interest is the connection Jaffe makes while integrating his passion for jazz into music and verse.

Another gem of this collection is an assemblage of communal poetry gathered during the “Artists in Schools” program, in which Jaffe participated. There are remnants of the legacy of souls transformed through the direction in finding one’s thoughts and giving them life by putting pen to paper. To one unfamiliar with this particular process of ingenuity, it is a fascinating literary encounter. The collection is an unyielding resource for anyone examining the science of poetry and creative writing.

The audiovisual collection contains sound recordings of performances, poetry readings, lectures, interviews, and radio broadcast. Materials in the collection include Without Memorial Banners: An American Opera in the Jazz Idiom, Dedicated to Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker by Dan Jaffe and Herb Six, programs of the literary writing show New Letters on the Air and interviews and poetry readings from author/poets such as Dan Jaffe, John Ciardi, John Knoepfle, and Paulette Jiles.