I think that we should get the poem somehow. Go for the low hanging fruit.

I think that we should get the poem somehow. Go for the low hanging fruit.

That poem might be in a landfill someplace,from decades ago. I have no idea how,or where we could find it.

I think that we should get the poem somehow. Go for the low hanging fruit.

That poem might be in a landfill someplace,from decades ago. I have no idea how,or where we could find it.

If he wrote one poem then perhaps he wrote others, or even had a private collection?

Maybe a family member would have them, or he could have written when institutionalised. They tend to make patients focus on positive and productive activities in those places to help them get better.

I think that we should get the poem somehow. Go for the low hanging fruit.

That poem might be in a landfill someplace,from decades ago. I have no idea how,or where we could find it.

If he wrote one poem then perhaps he wrote others, or even had a private collection?

Maybe a family member would have them, or he could have written when institutionalised. They tend to make patients focus on positive and productive activities in those places to help them get better.

The librarian said Ross’ poem appeared in one of the "school publications". Someone could track down older alumni of RCC and try to learn which student groups made campus publications, what the names of the publications were, and who might be able to track down copies.

There are other things that haven’t been found yet, too. Like Ross’ transcripts (which apparently were given to Dave Peterson). And has anyone tracked down Ross’ brother’s foster father, who the librarian claims was the pastor of Cheri Jo’s church? What was the foster father’s name? What is the name of the church?

One was the "Tiger Times", the student newspaper. A sample of that paper is on this thread:

http://zodiackillersite.com/viewtopic.php?f=79&t=759

So, where can we find more issues of that paper? Maybe one of them has weird poems by Ross.

UPDATE: Here they are, listed on the Riverside library’s web site: http://lamp.rcc.edu/search~S7?/Xtiger+t … D&1%2C1%2C

Someone needs to go and spend a few days scanning them all.

Just for reference, here’s the history of the student paper as given on the college’s facebook page:

In 1922, Riverside Junior College published its first student newspaper the “XYZ”. Later that year, its title was changed to the “Jay See”. In the fall of 1923 the newspaper was rechristened “The Junior Colleger”. In the middle of the 1927-28 academic year the newspaper became known as “The Arroyo”, a name that would last for almost two decades. In 1946 the newspaper was known briefly as the “Tiger Rag” then the “Tiger Times”. In early 1973 the newspaper’s name was changed to its current title, “Viewpoints”.

So, where can we find more issues of that paper? Maybe one of them has weird poems by Ross.

UPDATE: Here they are, listed on the Riverside library’s web site: http://lamp.rcc.edu/search~S7?/Xtiger+t … D&1%2C1%2C

Someone needs to go and spend a few days scanning them all.

Poets and con men : criteria for persuasion / by Robert Dyer.
Poets and con men : criteria for persuasion / by Robert Dyer. Riverside Too bad it’s from 1978.

Might be some good info in that library. Someone go to Craigslist or maybe there is a college chat board and pay someone to look. Students need money…someone would jump all over it.

Someone go to Craigslist or maybe there is a college chat board and pay someone to look. Students need money…someone would jump all over it.

I think that’s a great idea!

Community colleges have creative writing publications, where students publish their best short stories and poems and stuff. The librarian was pretty right on about a lot of the stuff that she said. If Ross wrote a creepy poem and it was published in a student periodical, then it can be found. That may be the only thing that we can find, but odds are it can be found.

I found an annual publication called "Muse," which may have started in 1992? It is in the RCC Archives on the 2nd floor. Perhaps Muse is a creative writing publication; it sort of sounds like one:

Muse | Definition of Muse by Merriam-Webster

Definition of muse. 1 capitalized : any of the nine sister goddesses in Greek mythology presiding over song and poetry and the arts and sciences. 2 : a source of inspiration; especially : a guiding genius. 3 : poet.

Maybe Muse had another name in the 1960’s like the Tiger Times.

O.k., here, check this out:

Muse is a creative writing publication for RCC:

MUSE is Riverside Community College’s art and literary magazine. We publish work from campus authors and artists as well as contributors from the region and across the globe. Producing MUSE each Spring is a collaborative effort by students enrolled in English 17 along with the leadership and mentorship of an advisory faculty editor. Students editors receive submissions and critically evaluate each piece of art and literature, correspond with writers and artists, plan book launch events, publicity, and fundraising projects.

See: http://www.rcc.edu/departments/englishd … tions.aspx

And it is annual. If there was an equivalent to Muse back in the 1960’s, then there wouldn’t be that much to look through because it is published annually.

EDIT:

There was also a periodical called "The Spectator" (1966-1971):

http://lamp.rcc.edu/search~S7?/cLD6501. … 4&1%2C1%2C

Not sure what its subject matter was.

I asked someone from MUSE about older student-published literary journals, and they told me this:

There was at least one literary journal before MUSE. There was a library exhibit about that journal and the RCC newspaper, Viewpoints, this past spring. We can do some reconnaissance and find the name.

I asked someone from MUSE about older student-published literary journals, and they told me this:

There was at least one literary journal before MUSE. There was a library exhibit about that journal and the RCC newspaper, Viewpoints, this past spring. We can do some reconnaissance and find the name.

That is great. I can hardly wait to find out if Ross really did get one of his poems published and read what the poem said. According to the librarian, Ross enrolled in literary type courses and he wrote a term paper about different handwriting styles. It sounds like the librarian was talking about more than one poem, one published, and perhaps another one about his supervisor. One of the poems frightened the librarian. There was also morbid poem found on a desk in the library where Ross worked and may have had the opportunity to carve a poem into a desktop in a situation unobserved. Zodiac was into literature, and also wrote morbid poetry. Zodiac used different handwriting styles. Is the poem allegedly published in Ross’ own handwriting, or was it typed?

EDIT: The librarian was correct about Ross misspelling words. Zodiac also misspelled words.

At the very least, this corroborates another fact from the librarian’s letter. If she was correct about the misspelling, then maybe she was correct about the poem.

And what about the handwriting? Look above, where Ross spelled his last name and leaves a big gap between the R and the S. Isn’t that familiar?

The Muse contact says "The Spectator" was a student literary journal prior to Muse.

Their library records place its publication dates from 1966 to 1971.

The Muse contact says "The Spectator" was a student literary journal prior to Muse.

Their library records place its publication dates from 1966 to 1971.

There was something called "Expressions" from ’59-’62.

http://lamp.rcc.edu/search~S7?/cLD6501. … 8&1%2C1%2C

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I think we need to move this stuff to the Ross/Library thread.