Bloomsday in Denver

Since 1982, on the 100th anniversary of his birth, Denver aficionados of the works of James Joyce have been reading this prolific author. We met in the back room of Sullivan's on Court Place. Gone, alas like our youth too soon. That's when the Joyce readers founded the James Joyce Reading Society of Greater Metropolitan Denver. Eileen Niehouse played her guitar and regaled us with songs mentioned in Joyce's works. We all unanimously elected Ned Burke as President for Life. The readers elected me as Vice Chair and our secretary-treasurer was Robert Ross whose dad was born in Scotland. Joyce would have liked that. So for these past thirty years the faithful have gathered every 1st Tuesday at 7:30 pm in member's homes to read from the works of Joyce. We are plowing though the labyrinthine lines of Ulysses this year, I believe the 7th time we've read it. Ulysses contains a Denver and Colorado reference which I never noticed until Ned Burke and I were reading from this great book in the morning of June 16, now called "Bloomsday." In Leopold Bloom's visit to Night town, the red light district of Dublin in 1904, Bloom meets a sailor to tells about seeing Buffalo Bill in Stockholm. The sailor recites a two line verse: "Buffalo Bill shoots to kill. Never missed nor he never will." The sailor adds that our Buffalo Bill toured the wide world with Hengler's Royal Circus. Pity Sullivan's isn't still standing, a parking lot now. We could put a brass plaque to commemorate this remarkable founding. If you are interested in reading along with us, contact me and I will get you the schedule. Joyce would like that.