Singer Kate Wolf tells readers about the influence of Rosalie Sorrels and U. Utah Phillips in her appreciation for folk music, which helped inspire her career. Wolf tells about growing up, her marriage, the broadening of her outlook, founding her own record and publishing companies (Another Sundown Publishing Co. and Owl Records), and writes "I think it is important to remember that the artist is free, that art has no social worth; and that the artist is whoever he says he is. It is the artist's responsibility to see with unveiled eyes, and the artist's function to perceive the world as it is, not through a lens distorted by someone else's beliefs or ideals. Art—or in my case music—is a force for social and personal change because it comes from that free place."

Editor Larry Jackson briefly recounts a benefit reading for the San Juan Ridge Taxpayer's Association  in Nevada City, California. Local resident and poet Gary Snyder, Alan Ginsburg, Nanao Sakaki, Peter Orlovsky, and friends help raise money to fight a resurgence in uncontrolled mining in the area. The land preservation benefit climaxes with Ginsburg's "Plutonium Ode."

Robert Bernstein, chairman  of the board and president of Random House asks Phantasm to reprint an exchange of letters having to do with his visa being denied resulting in Random House boycotting the Moscow International Book Fair.

Anita Tonetti is hired by Heidelberg Graphics as its only paid employee, working as a part-time office manager. Part of her job is proofreading for Phantasm. Her presence, humor, and energy is appreciated.

Roxanne Lake writes a four-column article, "A Large Contribution from a Local Small Press," published in the Chico News and Review August 9, 1979. The article is from an interview with Larry Jackson about his magazine, Phantasm, and Heidelberg Graphics.

Phantasmagoria: Journey into the Surreal editor Roberta Mendel writes about Phantasm in her vol. 1, no. 1,  inaugural issue: "Roves all over the arts world. Sprightly and cosmopolitan. Includes articles, announcements, essays, profiles, fiction, and some poetry. Illustrated with line drawings and photographs. Covers such diverse events as the Moscow Book Fair and the Sacramento Songwriters Showcase. A very professional offering with a very misleading title."