Mary TallMountain was a woman of generous spirit who helped and encouraged many colleagues and struggling writers of all ages and backgrounds. She wished to carry on that spirit of generosity after her death. According to TallMountain’s will, the proceeds from her published works will go to benefit low-income writers, particularly Native Americans and writers living in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District. The TallMountain Circle was formed to carry out these goals. The TallMountain Circle publishes, promotes and distributes the literary works of Mary TallMountain. Each year the Advisory Board selects TallMountain Awards for Creative Writing and Community Service.
For the last eight years of her life, Mary TallMountain had a close association with the Tenderloin Reflection and Education Center (TREC), a community-based nonprofit spiritual and cultural center in her San Francisco neighborhood. She was a poet in residence there in 1991-92 and participated in many of TREC’s workshops and performances year after year. The TallMountain Circle was established as a project of TREC in the year preceding TallMountain’s death in 1994.
The copyright for Mary’s published work is held by the Tall Mountain Circle at the direction of her literary trustee Kitty Costello. For permissions to reprint Mary’s work you can contact P.O. Box 423115, San Francisco, CA, 94142.