G. Murray Thomas on NEXT magazine's impact.

From NEWS CLiPS AND EGO TRIPS, here's a small portion of Murray's introduction--pay special attention to the final sentence: "I well remember the way poets' eyes would light up as I walked in with a stack of NEXT...s. That was the key to the whole enterprise. We quickly became an essential and beloved part of the SoCal poetry scene. Poets relied on us to tell them where the readings were, as well as to keep them informed about the hot poets in their midst, and the hot readings to go to, and the other happenings in the scene. Sure, they argued with us plenty, but they loved us. They also wanted to be written up in our pages. Although not all of them who did get ink were happy with the results.. We supported the community, but we were also critical of it, and we were not always nice about it."