Charles Bukowski

by Howard Sounes

  Al Berlinski of Sun Dog Press, Michigan; New Orleans book dealer Ed Blair; and Seattle book dealer, Ed Smith, supplied invaluable background information. Al Berlinski and Ed Smith also gave me copies of rare books as well as putting me in contact with people I might not otherwise have found.

  I am grateful to Black Sparrow Press, to Ed Blair, Linda King, Ed Smith, Joan Smith and Jeffrey H. Weinberg of Sudbury, Massachusetts, for the Bukowski line drawings used to illustrate the chapters.

  I visited and corresponded with the special collections libraries of several universities and I am grateful to staff at the following institutions: the University of Arizona at Tucson; Brown University, Rhode Island; Centenary College, Louisiana; Mainz University, Germany; the State University of New York at Buffalo, with particular thanks to Michael Basinski; the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA); the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB), with particular thanks to Yolanda Blue; Temple University, Philadelphia, and to Brenda Galloway; and the University of Texas at Austin, with particular thanks to Bill Fagelson.

  Also thanks to Jamie Byng at Canongate Books, Kevin Williamson at Rebel Inc., and the staff of Grove Press.

  SOURCE NOTES

  General note: Most extracts from Bukowski’s poems and prose works appear courtesy of Black Sparrow Press. See Selected Bibliography for details. All interviews are dated unless the interviews are too numerous to list, or because the dates have already been given.

  PROLOGUE

  The 1972 San Francisco poetry reading was based on my interviews with the following people who were at the reading and/or the party afterwards: Marty Balin (2 Feb, 1997); John Bennett (28 Sept, 1997); Douglas Blazek (7 June, 1997); Lawrence Ferlinghetti (14 Jan, 1997); Taylor Hackford (5 Feb, 1997); Linda King (various dates in 1996 and 1997); and Harold Norse (13 Dec, 1996 & 15 Jan, 1997). Taylor Hackford screened his documentary, Bukowski, for me; Linda King gave me access to her unpublished correspondence with Bukowski; Marty Balin gave me a copy of the film script he wrote for the proposed Bukowski movie. I also referred to an audio tape of the reading, Poems and Insults!; and to stories and articles by John Bennett.

  Bukowski’s height is taken from a June, 1965, letter he wrote to Steve Richmond, published in Screams from the Balcony.

  The poem, ‘the rat’, appears in Mockingbird Wish Me Luck.

  1 TWISTED CHILDHOOD

  The statement that ninety-three per cent of what Bukowski wrote is autobiographical is from a December, 1976, interview Bukowski gave to Hustler magazine.

  In Andernach, Germany, Bukowski’s cousins, Karl and Josephine Fett, granted me access to the previously unpublished family archive of letters, postcards and photographs which is the primary source for the meeting of Bukowski’s parents, their background and early life together. Karl Fett was also a helpful interviewee and guide to Andernach (11–13 April, 1997). Matthew Davis translated. I also interviewed Bukowski’s cousin Katherine Wood (12 & 29 Jan, 16 June, 1997) who allowed me access to her archive of family documents and photographs in California. The third main source of information about Bukowski’s German ancestry was the reminiscences of Bukowski’s late uncle Heinrich Fett as quoted in Shakespeare Never Did This.

  Additional background information on family history came from the following sources: Andernach’s registry of births, deaths and marriages – which proves he was born legitimately; the report of Bukowski’s birth to the United States Consulate in Coblenz, Germany (courtesy of John Martin); the death certificates of Henry Charles Bukowski, Henry Charles Bukowski Jnr, Katharina Bukowski, Leonard Bukowski and Emilie Olga Bukowski, all held by the State of California; the records of the Mountain View Cemetery, Altadena, California, where several members of the family are buried; the Military Personnel Records of Henry Bukowski, held at the National Personnel Records Center in St Louis, Missouri; and the Los Angeles City Directories held at Los Angeles Public Library. I am grateful to Rolf Degen of Mendig, Germany, and to Ben Pleasants of Los Angeles, both of whom interviewed Heinrich Fett and Charles Bukowski in the 1970s, and to the library staff at Mainz University, Germany. Henry and Kate Bukowski’s stay with the Gerhardt family, including information about Henry’s collection of pornographic photographs, and Kate Bukowski’s vulgar jokes, are from a previously unpublished letter Erwin Gerhardt wrote to Bukowski (16 Dec, 1977) that is part of the Bukowski archive at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

  Bukowski’s widow, Linda Lee Bukowski, was helpful on the subject on Bukowski’s youth and his feelings for his parents (25 Oct, 1996). Linda King allowed me access to her unpublished correspondence, which reveals details of how children treated him at school.

  Bukowski’s quotes about being beaten are from the autobiographical essay he wrote for Adam magazine in 1971. Details of beatings at Longwood Avenue are drawn from numerous interviews he gave throughout his career, especially those filmed by Barbet Schroeder for The Charles Bukowski Tapes, and also from the Adam magazine essay. I quote from Bukowski’s remarks in both the film and the essay. The quoted remark about his ‘twisted’ childhood is from an August, 1987, interview with Chris Hodenfield for Film Comment magazine. I also referred to Ham on Rye, which Bukowski said was autobiographical, other than two minor scenes.

  Details of Bukowski’s education are taken from the following sources: Los Angeles Unified School District records; Mount Vernon Junior High School’s Minute Man magazine; the staff of Susan Miller Dorsey High School; and the principal of LA High School, Dr Anne Falotico, who let me consult the school archive of year books. I also spoke and corresponded with many former students of LA High who were at school with Bukowski, including the following: Roger Bloomer (12 Feb, 1997); Stephen Cavanaugh (14 Feb, 1997); John Corbeil (27 Feb, 1997); Fred Merrill (6 Jan, 12 Feb, 22 April, 1997); Robert Merryman (14 Feb, 1997) and Barbara Purdy (6 June, 1997). I also visited Virginia Road Elementary School and am grateful to the principal, Jacklyn Thompson.

  Additional background came from: Europe Since Napoleon (Pelican, 1966) by David Thomson; The Fragmented Metropolis (University of Califonia Press, 1967) by Robert M. Fogelson; Hank by Neeli Cherkovski; The Charles Bukowski Tapes; Halliwell’s Film Guide (Grafton Books, 1987); Los Angeles City Directories held at LA Public Library; and Bukowski’s US Postal Service records which include details of where he lived as a child.

  The poem, ‘education’, appears in You Get So Alone at Times That It Just Makes Sense; ‘we ain’t got no money, honey, but we got rain’ is from The Last Night of the Earth Poems. I also referred to poems in Bone Palace Ballet, and War All the Time.

  2 THE BARFLY YEARS

  Bukowski’s discovery of John Fante’s Ask the Dust is based on the foreword Bukowski wrote for the Black Sparrow edition of the novel published in 1980, and I quote from the foreword. I also interviewed John Fante’s widow, Joyce (3 June, 1997).

  Background information on downtown Los Angeles came from the books, Downtown Los Angeles (City Vista Press, 1997) by Robert D. Herman, and The Fragmented Metropolis (University of California Press, 1967) by Robert M. Fogelson.

  Bukowski’s employment with Sears Roebuck is based on his writings in Ham on Rye and on interviews with former store worker, Fred Merrill (12 Feb & 22 April, 1997), who helped establish that Bukowski worked at the Pico Boulevard store and not the store on Olympic Boulevard, as has previously been supposed.

  The staff of Los Angeles City College made Bukowski’s college records available and supplied background information about the college’s history. Bukowski’s espousal of Nazism is based on his various writings, particularly in Ham on Rye and Bone Palace Ballet. I also interviewed FrancEyE (3 Jan, 1997) and consulted Kate Bukowski’s previously unpublished correspondence. The quote ‘all us working class’ is from a letter Kate Bukowski wrote to her parents at Christmas, 1936.

  Details of Bukowski’s subsequent employment history is based on his United States Postal Service file which includes a detailed account of all the places he lived and worked after leaving school
. For this, and his travels around America, I also consulted his autobiographical writings in the following books: Betting on the Muse, Factotum, Mockingbird Wish Me Luck, Notes of a Dirty Old Man and Tales of Ordinary Madness. Additional background information came from The Charles Bukowski Tapes, and Hank by Neeli Cherkovski.

  Bukowski’s remarks about sending ‘8 or 10’ stories a week to the New York magazines is from a letter he wrote to Douglas Blazek published in Screams from the Balcony. I also referred to Aftermath of a Lengthy Rejection Slip (Story, 1944).

  For draft records, I am grateful to Barbi Richardson at Selective Services in Arlington, Virginia, who located Bukowski’s file.

  The staff at Temple University, Philadelphia, found newspaper reports of Courtney Taylor’s court appearances which outline his criminal record and prison record. Bukowski’s US Postal Service file also included specific information about the date of Bukowski’s arrest for draft dodging. These new sources of information fix the date of the arrest as 22 July, 1944, two years after it was previously thought to have happened. Bukowski’s US Postal Service file gave additional detail on where in Philadelphia he lived and Brenda Galloway conducted local research on my behalf. She found city records relating to Fairmount Motor Products and to barman Frank McGilligan. The Philadelphia Historical Society supplied background information about Moyamensing Prison, and I am also grateful to the Pennsylvania prison authorities. Additional information about Bukowski’s stay in prison is taken from his autobiographical writings and interviews as previously described. The quotes from Bukowski about the bar on Fairmount Avenue are from his interview with Chris Hodenfield published in Film Comment magazine (August, 1987).

  Bukowski’s claim that he gave up writing for ten years is based on various interviews he gave, particularly one to William Childress for Poetry Now magazine in 1974 in which he said: ‘I call it my ten years off with no writing phase … I was terrified at the thought that I might have to enter the drab world of 9 to 5.’

  The quote, ‘poetry is the shortest …’ is from Len Fulton’s essay, ‘See Bukowski Run’ (Small Press Review, May, 1973).

  I consulted an original copy of Portfolio III at the University of Arizona, Tucson, and original copies of Matrix magazines at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB).

  The photographs of Bukowski in his suit and tie, and letters explaining the photographs, are courtesy of the Fett family in Andernach (translations by Matthew Davis). The anecdote about Henry Bukowski posing as his son is based on a letter Bukowski wrote to Jim Roman (26 Sept, 1965) published in Screams from the Balcony. I also consulted staff at Los Angeles County Museum.

  Biographical information about Jane Cooney Baker is based primarily on interviews and correspondence with friends of the Cooney family in Roswell, New Mexico: Richard G. Bean (28 Mar & 6 April, 1997); Orville Cookson (6 April, 1997); Lavora Fisk (5 &13 May 1997); Jean Rockhold (8 April, 1997); and John H. Wyley (6 April, 1997). The principal of Roswell High School allowed me access to the school year books from which the photograph of Jane, which is the first published, is taken. Members of the Roswell Historical Society researched back issues of the Roswell Daily Record and found reports of the deaths of Dr Cooney and Mary Cooney as well as the marriage of Jane Cooney to Craig Baker. Céline Sanchez, Registrar of the State of New Mexico Department of Health, was very helpful in locating birth, death and marriage certificates relating to the Cooney family. I also consulted Jane Cooney Baker’s California death certificate. I referred to the screenplay of Barfly; the movie, Barfly; and The Charles Bukowski Tapes. The date of Bukowski’s meeting with Jane – different from what has previously been thought – was fixed by cross-referencing Bukowski’s correspondence about the meeting, his US Postal Service record and information from friends in Roswell.

  The ‘Notice to Quit’ is from The Outsider magazine (Vol. 1, No.3, Spring, 1963).

  Details about Bukowski having anal sex with a male friend are from the following sources: his short story about the incident, published in Notes of a Dirty Old Man; a tape-recorded conversation with John Thomas reprinted in Bukowski in the Bathtub. This is the source of the Bukowski quote: ‘You know …’ (In correspondence with me on 10 Nov, 1997, John Thomas writes: ‘Yes, Hank meant it. He thought it was funny, but he told the anecdote as a real one.’) Neeli Cherkovski also told me that Bukowski claimed to him that the story was true.

  Bukowski’s arrest record is taken from his US Postal Service personnel file as are details of his employment with the post office as Christmas temporary carrier and then permanent carrier.

  The date of Bukowski’s illness was pinpointed by his US Postal Service record and from an unpublished letter to Bukowski from Los Angeles County demanding payment for his treatment. Additional information on the illness comes from Bukowski’s own writings and interviews, as already described.

  The quote from Linda King is from my 4 Jan, 1997, interview with her. I also referred to my 1996 interview with Linda Lee Bukowski.

  Additional background information for this chapter came from Bukowski’s previously unpublished correspondence with the following: John Bennett, courtesy of Brown University, Rhode Island; John William Corrington, courtesy of Joyce Corrington; Linda King and John Martin. I also referred to the University of Arizona archive; The Charles Bukowski Tapes (the conversation between Bukowski and Jane); and Film Comment magazine (August, 1987).

  Details of how Bukowski came to take up horse racing are based on his book, Horsemeat, and his comments in The Charles Bukowski Tapes. The quotes about why he gambled, ‘I piss away …’ are from a conversation with John Thomas transcribed and reprinted in Bukowski in the Bathtub.

  The poem, ‘Sparks’, is from A New Year’s Greeting from Black Sparrow Press (1983); ‘fire station’ is from Play the Piano Drunk/Like a Percussion Instrument/Until the Fingers Begin to Bleed a Bit; ‘drink’ is from Betting on the Muse; ‘what will the neighbors think?’ is from Bone Palace Ballet. ‘Soft and fat like summer roses’ is from Matrix magazine (Vol.9. No 2, Summer, 1946), and has never previously been published in any book.

  3 DEATH WANTS MORE DEATH

  Details of Bukowski’s relationship with Barbara Frye is based on interviews and correspondence with Barbara’s relations: Tom Frye (28 Oct, 1996); Sunny Thomas (3 Dec, 1996) and Leah Belle Wilson (19 Oct, 1996/2 Jan & 21 Feb, 1997). I referred to my interviews with Pamela Miller (25 June & 6 July, 1997), whom Bukowski spoke to about his divorce. I consulted Bukowski’s unpublished correspondence with Linda King; his unpublished correspondence with John William Corrington; and general correspondence published in Screams from the Balcony. I also consulted Bukowski’s college record courtesy of Los Angeles City College; his 1955 Las Vegas marriage certificate; his US Postal Service personnel file; the autobiographical story, Confessions of a Coward, published as A New Year’s Greeting from Black Sparrow Press (1995); and Bukowski’s books Notes of a Dirty Old Man and Post Office.

  The description of Bukowski’s home on North Mariposa Avenue is drawn from interviews with visitors: Sam Cherry (31 Dec, 1996); FrancEyE (3 Jan, 1997); and Jory Sherman (28 Dec, 1996). I also referred to a contemporaneous description published in the Literary Times (Mar, 1963). The quotes from Bukowski about his neighbors are from his introduction to The Roominghouse Madrigals. I also referred to The Charles Bukowski Tapes.

  Information about the deaths of Henry and Kate Bukowski came primarily from interviews with their former Temple City neighbors, Francis and Irma Billie (3 Jan & 1 May, 1997); from Katherine Wood; from unpublished correspondence between Henry Bukowski and his parents-in-law which is part of the Fett family archive in Andernach; and from Bukowski’s unpublished correspondence with John William Corrington. I also consulted the death certificates of Henry and Kate; legal papers relating to Henry Bukowski’s estate; the records of the Mountain View Cemetery, Altadena; the records of Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and Notes of a Dirty Old Man.

  The Linda Lee Bukowski quote is from an
interview conducted on 25 Oct, 1996.

  The Bukowski quote, ‘he’s dead …’ is from a 26 Sept, 1965, letter to Jim Roman published in Screams from the Balcony.

  Bukowski’s publishing history in small poetry magazines is based on interviews with Judson Crews (31 Mar, 1997) (including the threat to commit suicide if Crews did not publish him, which was made in a letter from Bukowski to Crews in June, 1953), and Leslie Woolf Hedley (21 & 22 July 1997); and by referring to original copies of the following small magazines: Epos, Existaria, Harlequin, Matrix, Naked Ear, Quixote, Semina and Trace. These are at the University of Arizona, Tucson; UCLA; and UCSB.

  The John Martin quote is from an interview conducted on 13 Nov, 1997.

  For the publication of Flower, Fist and Bestial Wail, I corresponded with E.V. Griffith (31 Mar, 1997); I consulted the correspondence between Bukowski and Griffith published in Screams from the Balcony; and documents relating to Hearse Press held at UCSB. I also referred to an original copy of Flower, Fist and Bestial Wail at UCSB.

  The section concerning Jane Cooney Baker’s latter years, and her death, is taken from Bukowski’s unpublished correspondence with John William Corrington, and from my interviews with Jory Sherman. I also referred to Jane’s death certificate. The pathology department at Guy’s Hospital, London, helped decipher her cause of death. I consulted the records of the San Fernando Mission where her body is buried, and referred to Bukowski’s comments in The Charles Bukowski Tapes together with his writings in the following books: The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills, Post Office and The Roominghouse Madrigals.