anything about turning 60? (1 Viewer)

Black Swan

Abord the Yorikke!
My oldest friend is turning sixty. I will be giving her a Buk book, but I was wondering if Bukowski wrote anything about turning 60.
Anyone?:confused:
 
I'll go out on a limb and speculate that he probably wrote it in 1980. ;)

Checking Dangling in the Tournefortia, there's not much. The closest he gets is mentioning his age of 59 and 60 in "The Secret of My Endurance" and "too late," respectively. Two poems that aren't exactly everybody's cup o' chai, but you can have a look at them. I mean, they put you in a situation as only Buk can do, and they're well-written, but just...I dunno, maybe not what most people would send to someone on their 60th birthday, I suppose.

Perhaps there's something in the posthumous collections.
 
maturing and letting go

My oldest friend is turning sixty. I will be giving her a Buk book, but I was wondering if Bukowski wrote anything about turning 60.
Anyone?:confused:

Hi Black Swan,

I was interested in your request. There doesn't seem to be much that I recall about Bukowski mentioning the landmark of reaching 60. He mentions it in the Bukowski Tapes that he's now 60 and in 10 years he's been translated into so many languages and he must be putting the words down the way they were meant to be for this to happen... Perhaps there are not more references in his writings because Bukowski was what I considered to be a 'young' 60: there were more novels to come (Hollywood and Ham on Rye) and countless poems published during his lifetime and posthumously - a staggering output for a man past 60. I think he was more aware of age when he hit 70 (Septuagenarian Stew) and knew his days were numbered even for a genius. He's looking back more, perhaps somewhat nostalgically to his earlier glory days, and weighing the passing of time, acutely aware of his journey toward the end of his nights and days. I like his poems from the final years and so many of them could not have been written were it not for the passage of the years and they might work for anyone who is reaching 60 even if that specific year isn't mentioned. I like that he wasn't afraid of his final years and shared how it felt to let go of the body and the rest of his life as a gradual letting go. If I have a chance to refresh my memory and check into some of them, I'll pass on the titles. Best wishes.
 
My oldest friend is turning sixty. I will be giving her a Buk book, but I was wondering if Bukowski wrote anything about turning 60.
Anyone?:confused:
You know, the closest I can come is a poem I read fairly recently -- and because I go back and forth between various Bukowski books, I can't remember where. He talks about how he's more successful now that he's in his late 50s or 60s. Maybe Hank Solo can provide the title of the poem?
 
When my friends get older I like to affectionately mess with them and act like they are older, so give him a copy of Septaugenarian Stew. He will be starting his seventh decade, right.;)
 
Jeez...Gerard,
turning sixty...
Yeah I suppose you are entering your seventieth decade.
Isn't 70 the knew 30, 40 or 50. Oh ! my memory is getting full of words that are no longer in use...
I was recently affectionately told that my dictionary was too old.
What the fuck, let's have a toast before it's too late.;)
and if we forget that we've already had a toast, we can have 2 or 3 and
let it degenerate into a fully blown far out be in...
 
The German translation of Septuagenarian Stew is titled 'Nicht mit sechzig honey' (means: 'Not at the age of 60, honey').
But I guess, your friend isn't familiar with the language.

Still you could print the cover and wrap it around 'Stew'.
:-))


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That is a nice creative idea Roni.
I'll do that if my printer will produce something decent.
It would be a nice touch since she is of german decent ,
lives in Paris, reads Bukowski in English.
 
Blacky Swan; I just read Horses Don't Bet on People and Niether Do I last night and He mentions it was 1980 which was the year he turned 60. Just an idea, but Stew... with the German cover will be great.
 
Buk wrote somewhere about his ability to turn down hookers: "At age sixty, I've developed a minor smooth." :D
 
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did he mean the poem? it's also in 'the night torn mad with footsteps'.

I'd also love a copy of that and the other Bukowski only wormies... any benefactors around?
 
Thank you for all the good stuff,
so it is ham on rye,
Wrapped in the scanned german version 'Not at the age of 60, honey',
In the card will print one of Buk's fabulous poem from the Sept...
And a big smack should do it.
Gerard you get 500 points for the math...

Interesting anecdote, I bought the book at Indigo,Montreal
I just could not find Bukowski, I finally asked a clerk, to point me to the right section.
She got a key from a locked drawer, to unlock a glass case where only Bukowski's books were kept.
What kind of people are we, Buk fans ?
As I went down the escalator I thought that Bukowski would have gotten a kick from all that fuss...
I had time to place about 15 GPP broadsides ...
 
Now where'd you get ahold of that? Great title; I'd love a copy someday.
Now that's some serious sleuthing! ;)
I'm lucky, not good. I just happen to be reading The Night Torn Mad with Footsteps and I just got to that part. I've seen that title here several times. Lickthe Star got the book for me. We all work together here. Oh did I mention mjp set up this webpage so we all could network and make these connections?

BlackSwan is right Bukowski would get a kick out of this.

Now what can I get with 500 points?;)
 
Transfer some Casino points to my American Uncle ;)

I love those statistics, Luckiest people, The master of Black Jack. mjp needs to paint my name in gold.
 
No, I think that is Jo Jo Planteen...but I'm not completely certain on, about, at, over, up to, it. The experts will tell us.
 
I'm sure it's not Tina D. It was filmed in 1976 (Freak-out '76).

Does this help?

(Old forum attachment ID is incorrect, see thumbnails.)

We were discussing this footage before.
 

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