A. M. Fine was a Julliard trained composer, artist, and poet, whose compositions ranged from instrumental works to incidental music to off-Broadway theatre. Although perhaps most widely known within contemporary discourse for his Fluxus works (darabok) and as a leading exponent of the Mail-art movement (in collaboration with the late Ray Johnson), Fine's cross-disciplinary activities also overlapped with the creative productions of his friends and colleagues Phillip Glass, John Cage, George Maciunas, and Allen Ginsberg. Alternative Traditions in the Contemporary Arts was chosen as the official repository for the artist's works and papers by the A. M. Fine estate.