Thursday, January 29, 2015

FINALLY! CRACKED THE DAVID ARLEN MYSTERY




Every year or two I'll start a-googlin' away trying to figure out who the hell---exactly---IS David Arlen who co-wrote the painfully/sinfully/unforgivably out-of-print Clarence Muse 1932 roman a clef, Way Down South. About the latter's experiences on the historic Black T.O.B.A. vaude circuit. I really had to dig reallll  hard today, but finally came up with enough to, at least, temporarily whet my informational appetite re: Arlen. Everyone knows Muse. Right?! If I'd used the search words "publicist" or "ghost writer" I'd have lucked out much sooner. Arlen was born in 1906 and died in '92. The clipping is from 1951. Nice lookin' dude.

Friday, January 16, 2015

Monday, January 12, 2015

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Never To Be Forgotten
















Among those also speaking were singers Jack Jones and Michael Dees.

Saturday, January 03, 2015

GREATEST BOOKSHOP EVER!



















Eighth Street Bookshop

Here's who I remember on staff:

Paul Barnes
Joseph Bitowf
Mark Brasz
Chuck Campbell
Steve Clark
Andre Codrescu
Charles Dudley
Tom Farley
Paul Glushanok
Ron Horning
Joe Johnson
LeRoi Jones (R.I.P.)
Don Kasha
Richard Kolmar
Martin Last (R.I.P.)
Bruce Marcus
David Mitchell
Ron Najman
Peter Orlovsky (R.I.P.)
Sylvester Pollett
Rod Rademacher (R.I.P.)
David Sable
Roger Sammis
Jonathan Schwartz (?)
Jose Soltero
A.B. Spellman
M.G. Stevens
Roy Tedoff
Ken Weaver (BFF)
Eileen Wilentz
Eli Wilentz (R.I.P)
Philip Wilentz
Sean Wilentz
Ted Wilentz (R.I.P)
Lewis _______

There were many more who've fallen through the cracks of my mind.

Never dawned on me in the 1960, but seems to've been a somewhat  sexist hiring policy.

Stage a reunion of those remaining, turn on a microphone and end up with volumes of a living history of the Greenwich Village art, literature and music scene circa '47 - '80

Thursday, January 01, 2015

New Years Lunch at Our House

And if you think I prepared this, you really don't know me at all.