The Henry Miller Memorial Library Blog

As loyal readers to this blog know, we love Richard Brautigan.

But much like his writing, Richard was an enigmatic guy. And up until now, there hasn’t been a definitive biography on him. Until now.

William Hjortsberg’s new, comprehensive biography, “Jubilee Hitchhiker, the Life and Times of Richard Brautigan,” just published by Counterpoint Press, is the most complete work to date (852 pages!) on the late writer.

Hjortsberg knew Brautiganand they both had early ties to Bolinas, the “xenophobic hippie enclave the iconoclastic writer liked to describe as ‘the freeze dried ’60s.’” (Ed: hmmm) After two years in Bolinas, Hjortsberg moved to Montana, as did Brautigan, eventually buying a house across a creek from Hjortsberg’s place.

“I saw a lot of him,” he said. “He was always coming over, coffee cup in hand, looking for some hot ‘java’ in the mornings,” he recalled. “And there would be those endless nightcaps that would last until dawn.”

But of course, this is a tragic story, but a fascinating one at that. But definitely worth the read.

Have you written a novel lately? Here in Big Sur it turns out that there is at least one in our midst who has done it!

Come to the Library on April 28th from 6-8 pm, to celebrate the publication of Susan Roether Zsigmond’s first novel, “Our Lady of West Hollywood.”

About the novel: unforeseen spiritual questions complicate the lives of four women seeking fame, fortune, love, and redemption in California’s media capital at the turn of the 20th century.

The evening includes coffee, tea, wine, and copies of the book!

The event is free, but donations are always appreciated. To register a spot, go here. And call 831-667-2574 with any questions.

More about Susan:

Susan Roether Zsigmond has been involved in writing and directing in Los Angeles since 1989. With a background in journalism and alternative book publishing in the Bay Area, Ms. Roether began working with independent directors at Farley Film Group and Pacific Ocean Pictures, writing and helping to produce low-budget films and documentaries in San Francisco in the early eighties. Her first-hand reportage on the making of the film Witches of Eastwick was featured in American Film magazine.

At First Stage in Hollywood, she became involved in directing staged readings of full-length plays from talented new playwrights, including the award-winning Boiler Room by Dan Fante; a one-woman show she developed with actress Virginia Morris; and Pitching Snow, an experimental play she wrote and directed. The drama, Daphne and Dr. Dow, which she wrote, directed and produced, was a Cinewomen project. Four of her other plays, including the comedy Leap, were presented at First Stage; and the ensemble comedy Surfers in Budapest, based on Roether’s experiences in post-communist Eastern Europe, premiered at Monterey’s New World Theater in a long-running production directed by Conrad Selvig.

Roether wrote, directed, and co-produced a short 35mm film, “The Facts of Life,” in collaboration with her husband, cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, which was featured at the American Cinemateque in Hollywood.

Every week or so brings with it an article online about Big Sur and all the cool stuff we have here. Like this one, for example, via Grass Routes.

It’s nice, albeit a bit predictable – not there’s anything wrong with that. They give shout-outs to the Esalen baths, Nepenthe, and of course, the Henry Miller Library.

We have no beef with any of those spots (except people can get excessively chatty/conspiratorial in the baths. Two times ago, some dude was talking about CIA mind control. And the last time I was there – just last week – some older dude was clearly trying to hit on a younger girl. The old dude is staring out at the waves, and he says, “Those waves are kinda like a metaphor, eh?”

you can see the carnitas in there

I wanted to throw up. No self-awareness. And helllo these are the “quiet tubs” no less.)

As a nice juxtaposition, my boy Brendan Newnam’s piece in CNN, noted that Big Sur has “the greatest bench in America.”

Of course, this entire discussion puts us in a knotty predicament. If we flex our localism knowledge and mention the really cool things to do in Big Sur, then, well, it wouldn’t be cool anymore.

That said, we used to be tourists ourselves, so whatever, here are some off-the-beaten-track cool things in Big Sur:

• The hot water out of the faucet in the men’s bathroom at Fernwood gets really hot fast and it’s fabulous.
• $2 Hamms at the Pub (or was that discontinued?)
• The class Big Sur hangover cure: a carnitas sandwich at the Deli with lettuce, tomato, jalapenos, mayo, salsa, cheddar cheese, on a sesame bun with coconut water.
• Man, that one turn-out down south. Just tailor-made for a 1995 Dodge 3500 passenger van.
• $7 per gallon gas in Gorda.

Which makes us wonder – what are some of your less-obvious Big Sur “likes?”

Indeed, the first show of the year has been announced: an Earth Day celebration with Alisa Fineman and Kimball Hurd, two fantastic local (ish) folk singers whom you may recall from 2010′s “Be Kind to the Earth” festival.

Given the Earth-centric theme, I’ll make sure my 12 MPG van is parked no where in sight.

Tickets available here, or by calling us at 831-667-2574. Tickets are by donation and limited to only 60!

And here is yet even more context:

The Big Sur Community Earth Day Weekend will take place April 21-22 at various businesses along the Big Sur coastline, starting 25 miles south of Carmel, CA. For more information, visit the B-SAGE Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/BSAGEbuzz, or the Big Sur Chamber of Commerce website at http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/events.html, or call 831.667.8823.

See you then!

Ah, Spring.

It’s the most evocative time of the year. Birds are singing. The sun shines until 8 pm. Flowers bloom. And I get to whip out my make-up and dress up like an sad alcoholic clown and get shot through a cannon.

That’s right: the Big Big Big Sur Fashion show is upon us, on Thurs. May 24th. This year’s theme is “Under the Big Top,” and if you are a local, you can stop by the Library and buy tickets now!

Local tickets are $10; 2 per person. By “local,” this means your ID must have you in the 93920 zip code OR living in Palo. (If you don’t know what the latter portion of that sentence means, well, you’re not a local. Oh snap!)

Public tickets go on sale on henrymiller.org on May 1st @ $20 a pop – for everyone, including locals! So locals, you have until May 1st to get tickets for $10.

As everyone knows, this is guaranteed to be the wildest, weirdest, funnest, and most poly-gendered event of the summer.

Do us a favor and type in “big big sur fashion show” in YouTube. You’ll see stuff like a video of Rosalia tossing fire around. And of course Like them on Facebook (btw, I *totally* hate Timeline!!!)

The show will sell out, so to you, the mere-mortal lower-caste peninsula-types out there, mark your calendars for May 1st for when non-local tickets go on sale.

Heh, and to think just last week I was (mistakenly) telling everyone fashion was dead.

We are all basking in the afterglow of the most recent Big Sur Children’s Writing Workshop, courtesy of the Henry Miller Memorial Library and the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

And that can only mean one thing: testimonials!

March 2012 Big Sur in Monterey. l-r: agent Jen Rofé, film agent Brandy Rivers, agent Mary Kole, Hyperion editor Lisa Yoskowitz, Big Sur Fairy Godmother Jan Elfman, and agent Caryn Wiseman.

If you ever find yourself, in the not-too-distant future, considering signing up for this December’s workshop, but are on the fence, read this blog by Becky Allen, via Becky Allen’s Sporadic blog. It’s honest, in-depth, and captures the essence of the workshop’s magic.

The coolest part is where she asks, “What did I get out of it?” A great question, naturally. And we’re tried to synthesize some of her key takeaways, which again, should resonate with any aspiring children or young adult fiction writer:

Reality-Checkin’ – “After a weekend spent letting strangers read my stuff for basically the first time ever, I feel like I’ve got a bit more of a grip on things and a more realistic sense of where I am, writing-wise.”

No YA Writer is an Island (eg, networking): “I got to meet awesome people. I am not exactly known for my excellent social skills when dealing with crowds of strangers, but it turns out talking to other writers is easy.”

Industry-Types are People Too: “I got a solid reminder that this is an industry, and that people who write books are not some kind of magic fantasy species, and the people who work in publishing are, in fact, actual human beings. In fact, they seem to be generally nice, passionate, awesome ones.”

Looking at Your Novel from a New Perspective: “It was enough to make me look at my own novel in a whole different way. The “But why?”s and “I don’t quite get it”s were intimidating, but but also answered a whole lot of questions I never thought to ask. And it wasn’t just a matter of sorting out what’s on the page from what’s in my head: it was about figuring out why what’s on the page was there. Figuring out how to make people connect with it in new ways. Figuring out which pieces work and which don’t. And by thinking about those things in the first two chapters, I also ended up with a bunch of revelations about the novel as a whole. That, of course, is the good news.”

So there you have it. But again, as they say in Hollywood, read the whole thing!

Um, thanks for last night.

Y’know, at the Independent in Sand City. It was so magical hanging out with you. (A special thanks to Andrew, the Michelles, Rachel, and the brainchildren of the Independent – Patrick, Todd, Brian, and the others.)

But yeah.

I’m not really good at this, but…yeah.

Oh my god, I sound like an idiot.

What I’m trying to say is…Thanks.

So, yeah, I guess give me a call sometime?

Maybe we can grab a coffee or something?

It’s true. The Henry Miller Library Comes to Town. Actually, we’re already in town. Well, I’m not. But Magnus and Keely are, setting up.

Bottom line: we’ll see you there, starting at 4 pm.  Movies at 8 pm – the best from the Big Sur International Short film Screening Series.

Beer, wine, food, all sorts of other vendors, and the HML pop-up book store!

Don’t miss out!

More info here.

So, as you may know, the Library is heading north on April 5th – we’ll be setting up shop at this cool new spot called the Independent Marketplace, on 600 Ortiz Ave in Sand City.

We’ll have a pop-up bookstore, we’ll be showing movies starting at 8 pm, (the event is from 4- 1o pm), and there’ll be food, drink, and much merriment. Check it.

But what about this new space? Glad you asked.

The Independent Marketplace was recently featured in the Monterey County Weekly – read the whole thing here - but the gist of it is thus:

Developer Patrick Orosco, owner of The Independent, describes the event’s blueprint. Indoors: organic produce, flowers and nursery plants from local small farmers. Packaged foods like dried fruits and nuts, jams and honey.

Meats and seafood from local ranchers and fishermen. Artisan crafts and a kids’ corner. A veggie valet allowing shoppers to drop off their bags while they grab a drink or dance. Outside: hot food stands, food trucks and bike parking. Entertainment: Four hours of music by a live DJ, local art and short films. 


Because the market is happening on private property, 21-and-over shoppers can browse with beer from Post No Bills, the craft beer house in The Independent, and wine.
”

Which brings us back to April 5:

Each monthly market will feature a different nonprofit partner; Henry Miller Memorial Library is the first. The April event will include a pop-up bookstore selling titles and vinyl from the library’s Big Sur headquarters, and a slideshow on its history.


“A lot of people have heard of Henry Miller Library but never get down to Big Sur,” HMML Director Magnus Toren says. “Now we’re coming to you.”


Toren also hopes the library’s presence will bring in a little cash to offset the costs of a looming improvement project. The library is under pressure from the county Health Department to add an additional bathroom to accommodate the crowds that attend the concerts, festivals, film screenings and other events on the property. The financial burden lies solely with the library foundation, since former landowner Big Sur Land Trust handed over the title last month. 


“It’s a lot of money. I’m a little bit freaked out,” Toren says. “[But] the library has a lot of support.”


So we’ll see you there!

Recently we looked at Miller’s 11 Commandments for Writing – pretty straight-forward, concise, and helpful stuff, right?

Well, our bro Kerouac also made up lists too (sometimes lists of lists, even), including his “30 Beliefs and Techniques for Prose and Life,” which you can read in its entirety here.

As you can see, it’s a bit more, err existential than Miller’s list, but pretty useful nonetheless.

Who needs Dr. Phil when you got liberating nuggets of wisdom like “Like Proust be an old teahead of time” and “Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming in from under, crazier the better.”

The list was allegedly tacked on the wall of Allen Ginsberg’s hotel room in North Beach a year before his iconic poem “Howl” was written—which is of little surprise, given Ginsberg readily admitted Kerouac’s influence and even noted in the dedication of Howl and Other Poems that he took the title from Kerouac.