What's Past Is Prologue: Learning from Bukowski

Legman LA

leg⋅man/ˈlɛgˌmæn, -mən/–noun, 1. Journalism. a reporter who gathers information by visiting news sources or by being present at news events. Origin:1920–25. Americanism 2. legman LA- A New Yorker displaced by the hellish nightmare Rudy wrought offers street reportage from the planet's creative capital. I still don't get it, but I'm trying

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What’s Past Is Prologue: Learning from Bukowski

The ghost like visage of Bukowski hangs high above the bar at The Frolic Room

Today marks the birthday of the poet Charles Bukowski, born Aug. 16, 1920, in Germany. His family moved to Los Angeles when he was a boy and in LA he weathered the Great Depression, a time “when people had very little and there was nothing to hide behind” he wrote in his poem The Lady In Red which evokes the time as keenly as Steinbeck. Spending years leading to WWII in the Central Library, Pershing Square, in Clifton’s Cafeteria and the King Eddy Saloon, those experiences fueled Bukowski’s later writing. And while it remains unclear if we are now in the midst of another depression, it seems highly appropriate to revisit any and all accounts of the ‘30’s, just in case.