Charles Bukowski (37 page)

John Bryan described Bukowski’s association with
Open City
(13 Jan & 6 June, 1997). Bukowski’s opinion of the newspaper’s staff, ‘scummy Commie …’, was reported to me by Bryan. I interviewed Jack Micheline (15 Jan, 2 June & 20 Sept, 1997) and quote from his prose-poem, ‘Long After Midnight’, published in
Sixty-Seven Poems for Downtrodden Saints
(FMSBW, 1997). Bukowski’s quote, ‘The crew did not …’, is from the autobiographical essay he wrote for
Adam
magazine (1971). I consulted Bukowski’s preface to the City Lights edition of
Notes of a Dirty
Old Man
, taking the quote ‘Think of it yourself …’; and consulted copies of
Open City
at UCLA. I interviewed John Thomas (1 Jan,
1997) about Bukowski’s working methods. Bukowski’s former De Longpre Avenue neighbors, Sina Taylor and Paul Jenson, told me he used to read his copy to an elderly woman who lived next door (31 Dec, 1996).

Details of Bukowski’s trip to see the Webbs in Tucson, Arizona, are primarily taken from my interviews with Gypsy Lou Webb. I also referred to Bukowski’s unpublished correspondence with John William Corrington; to letters published in
Screams from
the Balcony
; and to Bukowski’s short story,
My Stay in the Poet’s
Cottage
, published in
Tales of Ordinary Madness
. Background information came from the
Tucson Daily
Citizen
(15 July, 1967); the periodical,
Book Production History
(Feb, 1967); and correspondence from Ed Blair.

The history of the thirteenth Penguin Modern Poets book is taken principally from interviews with Harold Norse (13 Dec, 1996 & 15 Jan, 1997); and my interview with Nikos Stangos (29 Jan, 1997). Nikos Stangos kindly made available his unpublished correspondence with Bukowski. Further background information came from Harold Norse’s book,
Memoirs of a Bastard Angel
(Bloomsbury, 1990); and from the unpublished correspondence of Bukowski and John William Corrington.

Douglas Blazek described his meeting with Bukowski and gave opinions of his work (7 June, 1997). I also consulted letters from Bukowski to Blazek published in
Screams from the Balcony
.

Details of Bukowski’s problems with the US Postal Service are based on interviews with his former union representative, David Berger (4 Mar, 1997); with FrancEyE (3 Jan, 1997) and Bukowski’s former landlord, Francis Crotty (4 Jan, 1997). I also consulted Bukowski’s Feb, 1967, letter to Steve Richmond for the exchange with the angry postal worker. This letter is published in
Screams from the Balcony
. Additional background came from the archive of Bukowski letters at Brown University, Rhode Island; and the letters to the Webbs published in
Screams from the Balcony
.

For Bukowski’s relationship with the beat writers, I referred to my interviews with Lawrence Ferlinghetti (14 Jan, 1997); Jack Micheline (various dates in 1997); and Harold Norse (13 Dec, 1996&15 Jan, 1997). The description of Bukowski’s meeting with Neal Cassady is taken from my (6 June, 1997) interview with John
Bryan; Allen Ginsberg’s quotes are from my correspondence with Allen Ginsberg (28 Sept, 1996). Bukowski’s conversation with Cassady, and their car ride, is based on Bukowski’s contemporaneous
Open City
column published in
Notes of a Dirty Old
Man
; Bukowski’s Feb, 1968, letter to the Webbs, published in
Screams from the Balcony
; and my interviews with John Bryan. Background details about the life of Neal Cassady came from the following books:
Ginsberg
(Viking, 1989) by Barry Miles;
Jack’s
Book
(Penguin, 1979) by Barry Gifford and Lawrence Lee; and
Kerouac
(Picador, 1978) by Ann Charters.

Harold Norse’s comments about Bukowski’s sexuality come from interviews with Norse conducted on 13 Dec, 1996 & 15 Jan, 1997. I also quote from Norse’s autobiography,
Memoirs of
a Bastard Angel
. I consulted Bukowski’s correspondence at UCSB and referred to my interviews with Neeli Cherkovski. The anecdote about Bukowski inviting Cherkovski into his bed comes from an interview with Cherkovski on 16 Dec, 1996. I also interviewed John Martin and Jack Micheline.

Details of the publication of
Notes of a Dirty Old Man
, details of the
Skinny Dynamite
case and the demise of
Open City
are from my interviews with John Bryan (13 Jan & 6 June, 1997); and Jack Micheline (15 Jan, 2 June & 20 Sept, 1997). I also consulted the following sources: the biographical note, letters and
LA Free Press
extract published in Jack Micheline’s book,
Sixty-Seven Poems
for Downtrodden Saints
(FMSBW, 1997);
Skinny Dynamite
(Second Coming Press, 1980); Bukowski’s book,
The Most Beautiful
Woman in Town
; and Bukowski’s letters in
Screams from the
Balcony
.

Bukowski’s involvement with Zapple was described for me by Barry Miles in an interview (12 Feb, 1997). I spoke to former Apple executive Tony Bramwell (4 Feb, 1997); I referred to Bukowski’s unpublished correspondence at UCSB; and Bukowski’s unpublished correspondence with John Bennett held at Brown University, Rhode Island.

John Martin described Bukowski’s opinion of the Black Mountain poets in an interview on 20 July, 1997. Neeli Cherkovski described the history of
Laugh Literary and Man the Humping
Guns
. I interviewed Sam Cherry (1 Jan, 1997) and consulted
original copies of
Laugh Literary and Man the Humping Guns
courtesy of Neeli Cherkovski’s nephew, Dani Tull.

Sam Cherry and Neeli Cherkovski described the taking of the box car photograph. I interviewed John and Barbara Martin about the design of
The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the
Hills
and referred to my interviews with Harold Norse. I also referred to
Whitman’s Wild Children
(Lapis Press, 1988) by Neeli Cherkovski.

The poem, ‘a little atomic bomb’, appears in
Play the Piano
Drunk/Like a Percussion Instrument/Until the Fingers Begin to
Bleed a Bit
; ‘traffic ticket’ and ‘true story’ appear in
Burning in
Water, Drowning in Flame
. ‘The Genius of the Crowd’ appears in
The Roominghouse Madrigals
. The extract from ‘Long After Midnight’ appears by kind permission of Jack Micheline. Extracts from
Notes of a Dirty Old Man
, copyright 1969, are reprinted by permission of City Lights Books.

Details of how Bukowski left the post office are primarily taken from my interviews with John Martin, and from Bukowski’s United States Postal Service personnel file. John Martin described the breakdown of the $100-a-month in an interview on 21 July, 1997.

Bukowski’s attitude to money is based on interviews with Neeli Cherkovski; FrancEyE (3 Jan&30 May, 1997); Harold Norse (15 Jan, 1997); Steve Richmond (8 Nov, 1996); and John Thomas (1 Jan, 1997).

Bukowski’s Bridge reading was described in interviews with: Neeli Cherkovski, Jack Micheline, Harold Norse, Steve Richmond and John Thomas, who kindly supplied a list of the poems read on 19 December, 1969. I also consulted Thomas’s review of the reading which appeared in the
LA Free Press
on 6 Feb, 1970.

Johnny Moore described the night Bukowski left the post office (6 Mar, 1997). I also referred to, and quote from,
Post Office
.

For the writing of
Post Office
, I consulted the original manuscript of the novel which is held at UCSB. I referred to the 25th Black Sparrow Press imprint of the novel; and to my interviews with John Martin. I quote from Russell Harrison’s book,
Against The American Dream
(BSP, 1994). Bukowski’s quote, ‘I was concerned …’, is from an article in the periodical,
LJ
(1 Feb, 1971). The Bukowski quote ‘for laughs’ is from a 23 Feb, 1970, letter from Bukowski to Carl Weissner published in
Living on Luck
.

The anecdote about Bukowski throwing forty paintings away is from an unpublished letter (dated 17 April, 1970) from Bukowski to Harold Norse. The letter is part of the Bukowski archive at Temple University, Philadelphia. I further consulted my 20 July, 1997, interview with John Martin in which he described Bukowski’s artwork and interest in art.

Details of Bukowski’s readings in New Mexico and Seattle, Washington, are from the following sources: unpublished correspondence between Bukowski and Linda King; the video film,
Bukowski at Bellevue
. The quote ‘a drunken half-fuck’ is from a June, 1970, letter from Bukowski to Sanford Dorbin published in
Living on Luck
.

I interviewed and corresponded with Ann Menebroker about her visit to De Longpre Avenue (interviews: 9 Feb & 6 July, 1997) and quote from her letters to Bukowski held at UCSB, with her kind permission.

Details of Bukowski’s problems with his De Longpre neighbors are from various unpublished letters he wrote to Harold Norse. The letters are at Temple University, Philadelphia.

I referred to original copies of the pornographic magazines Bukowski wrote for. They are at the University of Arizona, Tucson. The archive at UCSB contains a letter from the editor of
Fling
to Bukowski (26 June, 1971).

I interviewed Carl Weissner (7 Mar&10 Aug, 1997) regarding the translation of
Notes of a Dirty Old Man
and its publication in Germany. The section about the fake Henry Miller quote, and the quoted Bukowski letter, is from
Living on Luck
.

Details of Bukowski’s applications to the National Endowment for the Arts are from correspondence at UCSB. The quote, ‘I thought the life of a writer …’, is from a 1 Sept, 1970, letter from Bukowski to Neeli Cherkovski, published in
Living
on Luck
.

The extract from ‘Another Academy’ is from
A New Year’s
Gift for the Friends of Black Sparrow Press
.

Bukowski’s relationship with Linda King is primarily based on my interviews with Linda King conducted on various dates in 1996 and 1997, and our correspondence. Linda kindly made available her previously unpublished correspondence with Bukowski, her collection of artwork, magazines, and photographs. Extracts from her love letters to Bukowski appear with her permission. (NB: The letter from Bukowski to Linda about picking up a man on the way home has been lost, but Linda’s reply of 7 May, 1971, reads, in part: ‘I hope you had a good time with your homosexual pick-up …’)

For additional background, I consulted the previously unpublished Bukowski–King correspondence at UCSB; and the article, ‘Bukowski’, written by Linda King and published in
Small Press
Review
(May, 1973). The reference to the unpublished Bukowski poem, ‘I have eaten your cunt like a peach’, is from this article. I also referred to my interviews with Neeli Cherkovski, John Martin and Steve Richmond; to Bukowski’s unpublished correspondence with Richmond; and to a previously unpublished letter dated 14 June, 1976, from Linda King to John Martin listing all the times Bukowski had been violent towards her.

For additional background information for the early part of the chapter, I referred to
An Anthology of LA Poets
(Laugh Literary/Red Hill Press, 1972);
Me and Your Sometimes Love
Poems; Women
; and back issues of
Open City
and the
LA Free
Press
which are on microfiche at UCLA.

The Gerald Locklin review of
Post Office
was published in the
Long Beach Press-Telegram
on 18 Mar, 1971.

The poem by Linda King, ‘How Long (for C. B.)’, appears with her kind permission.

Bukowski’s relationship with Liza Williams is based on my interviews with Liza conducted on 22 Feb & 25 June, 1997. Liza made available a photograph album of the Catalina holiday, which provided useful background information. Additional background came from Bukowski’s unpublished letters to Linda King, and letters published in
Living on Luck
.

The primary source for the death of Jon Webb were my interviews with Gypsy Lou Webb. Ed Blair supplied useful background information and a copy of the June and Clyde story which appeared in the
LA Free Press
on 14 April, 1972. The Gypsy Lou quotes about Jon’s ashes are from an article by Liza Williams published in the
LA Free Press
in 1972, later reprinted in
Sure
magazine (No. 2, Aug, 1991).

For details about Liza Williams’ party, I interviewed guests: Spain Rodriguez (19 July, 1997); Robert Williams (3 April, 1997); and corresponded with R. Crumb (19 Jan & 10 Mar, 1997).

All quotes from Linda King are from my interviews conducted on various dates in 1996 and 1997, and these are the primary sources of all passages relating to Bukowski’s relationship with Linda. She also made available her unpublished correspondence with Bukowski and the extracts from the following letters: the letter beginning ‘I was so happy …’ is dated 21 May, 1972; and the letter beginning ‘Bastard Bukowski’ is dated 30 May, 1972.

Quotes from Marina Bukowski are from my interview with her on 21 July, 1997.

The section about the Silver Lake party is based on my interviews with Linda King, and the following guests: John Bennett and Marty Balin (as detailed in the Source Note to the Prologue); Brad Darby (13 Feb & 28 April, 1997); and Tina Darby (7 July, 1997). I also referred to John Bennett’s short story,
The Party
to End All Parties
, which appears in
The Moth Eaters
(Anglefish Press, 1997).

John Martin told me the story about Bukowski and the police who turned out to be fans (21 July, 1997). I spoke to Linda King about the fight which preceded the arrest.

Bukowski’s relationship with Joanna Bull was described by Joanna Bull in interviews and correspondence (7, 15 & 27 Mar, 1997). Joanna also made available her unpublished correspondence with Bukowski.

Bukowski’s trip to Utah is based on my interviews with Linda King and her sister, Gerry King (5 Jan, 1997). I also referred to Bukowski’s published letters in
Living on Luck
and his writings in
Women
.