All your friends seem larger than life when you’re young … But I believe that many of the people who made up our scene really did have the charisma and thirst for new experiences to make great protagonists in an epic novel.
Jack Kerouac built his legend on a lightly fictionalized (and beautifully written) portrayal of his friend Neal Cassady, with a supporting cast of other people in their circle.
If you were going to write the Great American Novel about someone from the San Diego scene, who would it be? And why?
It’s not a person, but Pat’s Moms house would be a great vehicle for a sprawling epic.
Dave Rinck is one obvious choice … The man’s been generating anecdotes like the Energizer Bunny for 30 years now! Just follow the trail of electrical sparks, and you’d have a fine novel.
Chris Marine, he lived a poetic life, which ended tragically early.
sergio of hair theater
paul of hokeness
lou, i agree about chris. his life was short and i loved him a lot. good egg with a knights heart.
i also agree about pat’s moms. the phone book wall in the back room… the stairs… the everything.
but my serious vote is for bobo/cricket. his adolescence, young adulthood, and how he ended up (a fabulous father and best friend) are epic and fantastic. loved that man then and i love him now, and always will. what an epic tale his life would make.
as you know, Matt, i wrote one. It isn’t about anyone specific -- a composite of different traits and experiences of different people i knew -- more about the time and place: San Diego in the late 70s early 80s -- but it did have a fictionalized account of some things that happened to, and was dedicated to, Brent Clark. Maybe I’ll take a break from writing the second one to try and get that first one published one of these days…
By the way, i’d read everyone of the potential novels here (about Chris, Dave, Bobo, Sergio, Paul & especially Pat’s mom’s house)!
I’d write about all of you. You’re a special group of courage teachers. And I’d call it “Satori in San Diego”…
david k, i keep thinking that this is not a half bad idea… a book about the house. narrated by the house. i would read it. twice.
rinck, hear hear.
Lou Damien.
Lou Damien, Toby Gibson and Cricket Logan all in a (fictitious) story about their road trip journey to discover the meaning of life -- when one of them is abducted by aliens.
And when he returns he is like Jesus. No…like Jack the Ripper….
There are so many people whose life stories would make great books, but I’d like to mention three: Gary Heffern, Bruce Joyner and Claude Christiansen (Claude Coma).
dave klowden said something to me last weekend that made me think… (shocker, the man is always making me think)
while we all created a family of sorts among ourselves we really knew little about each others parents or other family (unless they were directly involved in our scene).
i think it would be grand to have a book of stories told from the perspective of our blood families. we know each others deep darks, and the ins and outs of our collective experiences, but what of the people at home?
i would love to read that. what they thought/felt while we were primarily concerned with each other.