One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Video: Charles Bukowski Revisits Hollywood Blvd. In 1985
About nine years before his death, when he was in his mid-60s, Charles Bukowski took a tour of Hollywood Boulevard in a convertible, revisiting many of his old haunts. The liquor stores, the bars, the ghosts of the women that kept him company—this isn't for tourists looking for the Walk of Fame.
He tells his audience, "Where did I get all of those stories out of those few blocks? Well they came to see me, those girls, you know, the most vicious women in the world came and knocked on my door. They knew how to find a softie. Now I'm all straightened out. I feel great. I miss a little of that dirty action now and then I've gotta admit it. Teaches where humanity is. You never want to forget that." And then a suggestion: "You don't have to come to Hollywood, I told you all about Hollywood and Western, you gotta relax, forget it, go to sleep."
[via Open Culture]
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
