31. Red Ozier Press and Red Hydra

Steve Miller founded the Red Ozier Press in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1976, after studying with Walter Hamady at the University of Wisconsin. Red Ozier was a literary press that published works by notable and emerging writers. In 1979, Miller moved to New York City where he met Ken Botnick and under their joint stewardship, the press gained an outstanding reputation for the distinguished quality of its authors and the craftsmanship of its books. It was also in 1979 that Miller met DePol at his home in Park Ridge. Fifteen years later, for the Festschrift honoring DePol on his 80th birthday, John DePol a Celebration of His Work, Miller recalled that when they met, DePol had recently retired. “What you need to understand is that ‘retirement’ to John means working harder than most people half his age, working for no pay. John told me early on that he had worked in the ‘real world’ long enough, and that now he wanted to call the shots himself. He would work for no one, he would only work on projects that interested him and with people he liked, and only in trade for copies of whatever was produced.”

By then, Miller had closed the Press to take a teaching position at the University of Alabama, and started another, the Red Hydra Press, using a printer’s device engraved by DePol. One can still (2013) find the stark, understated “R.H.” advertising the Press’s recent publications on its Website.

DePol illustrated a number of books, keepsakes and a bookmark for The Red Ozier. In addition to providing the printer’s device for Red Hydra, DePol illustrated two of its publications: Six Pieces of Wood, featuring six wood engravings to celebrate “the Paper & Book Intensive resident workshops in advanced paper and book arts held at John Knox Ranch ... between San Antonio and Austin, May 22-June 3, 1993,” and The Hours, a chapbook of poems by Richard Foerster (1993).