He was old, his wife sick, he had lost his job, and he was drinking too much. It didn’t help that the country had hit rock-bottom in the worst financial depression of its history. Still, the human spirit persists. In 1932, jobless and dejected Raymond Chandler (1888-1959) persisted in a very small way by signing… Continue reading When a Lowly Writer of Pirate Tales Found His Way
Month: November 2018
Before Borderline Bar & Grill Was Charley Brown’s Restaurant, Thousand Oaks
The Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, site of the November 7, 2018 shooting of 12 people, has been around for a long time in various iterations. In Thousand Oaks, a bedroom community 40 miles from Los Angeles, where everything is torn down and rebuilt on a regular basis, it is virtually unheard… Continue reading Before Borderline Bar & Grill Was Charley Brown’s Restaurant, Thousand Oaks
Woody Guthrie’s Song “Deportee”: Well-Meaning Fantasy
It was a plane crash that killed 32 people, mainly illegal immigrants, and spawned Woody Guthrie’s song “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos).” For over 70 years, “Deportee” has come to signify the heartlessness of the American public, media, and law enforcement system towards illegal immigrants. Recorded by Joan Baez, Kingston Trio, Hoyt Axton, Nanci Griffith,… Continue reading Woody Guthrie’s Song “Deportee”: Well-Meaning Fantasy