Throughout the mid 1990's, Paul published a literary and arts magazine called, "The Forward
Papers." It was a quarterly publication that lasted for six issues until the funds to print it ran out.
After it folded, a series of poetry readings and salons were held which eventually evolved into the
fellowship for those who love the arts known today as The Forwardian Arts Society in October
2001.

As the fellowship grew, it began to create opportunities for artists and art lovers to explore their
creative natures. It seemed The Forward Papers had been completely transformed to a new entity
and thoughts of providing the area with an incarnation of the publication faded away from Paul's
consciousness. This was until he met Debbie Burke during a Literary Lovers Gathering in August
2009.

This meeting led to the formation of The ArtSmash of the Poconos events and it was soon after the
first event did Debbie Burke suggest The Forward Papers should make a comeback as such a
publication was certainly needed in the area. Thus began the work of putting a publication
showcasing the talents of writers, poets, artists, and photographer together so those who would
benefit from the magazine can do so.

On Wednesday November 25th, 2009, the very first Prototype (Mock up) issue to be shown to
potential investors. Here is what it looked like.
On Saturday December 12th, a special gathering at The Starbucks Coffeehouse in Stroudsburg, PA
for Writers and Artists as well as those interested in marketing and helping the magazine raise
revenue for printing.

Many topics relating to the publication of the magazine were explored as our envisioning began to
take the shape of a manifested reality during our first Publication Gathering. Some of ideas
generated included holding events filled with music, poetry, and art to help raise additional funds
to assure the publication of our premier issue and beyond. This idea manifested into the ArtSmash
of the Poconos events which followed during the months to come. These are the pictures taken
during the meeting.
THE FORWARDIAN ARTS SOCIETY
LITERARY AND ARTS MAGAZINE
"FORWARDIAN"
THE STORY OF A MAGAZINE
A great deal of hard work ensued after this meeting and (with a few months) Debbie Burke and I
were interviewed during The Petraology 233 Show which was aired live on The Pocono Internet
Broadcast Company on Wednesday May 5th to let their listeners know the magazine was about to
become available to them. It was a lot of fun and it was good to get the word out about our
wonderful publication. Here are the pictures taken during the interview.
AND THEN IT HAPPENED
The Forwardian Arts Society received 500 copies of the premier edition of its new Literary and Arts
Magazine “Forwardian” just outside the Starbucks Coffeehouse in Stroudsburg, PA at 1:37pm on
Wednesday May 19th. We celebrated over a slice of Pizza at the neighboring Venuto’s Old World
Pizza and was that ever good. I then went on my heroic journey (well, ok, maybe heroic isn’t the
right word here but I felt I deserved a little Hyperbole) to begin distributing the magazine
throughout the town.

Many Stores and restaurant owners gave me a curious look saying they have never heard of our
magazine. I was tempted to say, “Well, duh” but common sense and the desire to share
“Forwardian” with their customers kept my instincts at bay. I’ve placed about 200 copies this first
day and handed out several more to people whom I knew and just happen to pass by while
walking the streets.

Within the next few weeks, more copies of the publication were distributed until only a small
handful was left. It was soon after this did we receive requests from our distribution sites for more
copies as they quickly ran out of them and people were asking for their copy. We were saddened
by our inability to comply with their request until we realized how cool it was that so many people
wanted what we made.  

Here are pictures taken during the first day of "Forwardian."