Confluence & Influence - some ties to Buk (1 Viewer)

[Caris]

Greetings. My aunt, now 92, had a long affair with Buk in the 70’s. She told him about me, a college student at the time, and he would call me now and again late at night and we would chat. I have just come into possession of all his letters to my aunt, shoe boxes full. A project of this year will be to sort by chronology, read them, and then sort out what to do with them. I have read Amber’s posts and am aware of Martin/Black Sparrow but am not otherwise savvy. I am pondering writing about their relationship, if the material warrants. Suggestions and perspective welcome.

 

[mjp]

I have read Amber’s posts and am aware of Martin/Black Sparrow but am not otherwise savvy.

Martin is out of the picture, so don't be deterred by any horror stories you might read about his threats or bullying. He has nothing to do with the rights to Bukowski anymore. Black Sparrow still exists (kind of) but it is not owned by Martin, and it doesn't own the rights to publish Bukowski anymore. HarperCollins publishes Bukowski now, under their Ecco imprint.

Writing something about your aunt and Bukowski, which you should certainly do, doesn't run afoul of anyone's rights. If you decide to publish a story about Bukowski and your aunt and include the letters (or substantial excerpts of the letters), you would need permission from HarperCollins Linda Bukowski.

 

[Caris]

Thanks, MJP, excellent info. I was leery of Martin but will kick that to the curb, and shall undertake appropriate permissions as are warranted.
I’ve only had these letters a few weeks, and am saving them for a proper devotion of time and mental energy. Maybe I’ll find something cool that I can share here.
The few times we chatted, he would start each convo by asking me to describe my legs. I had fun with that. My goal would be to get him chucking in his gravelly, smokey way and he’d sign off with an ‘OK, Kid.’
My aunt’s stories of their time together, which she emphasizes were not really romantic but were instead based on her love his writing and his love of her letters to him, are laced with colorful descriptions of the people around him and his reactions to them, and how he’d use his plunges up and down the alcohol spectrum to find depth for his writings.
Am appreciative of your creation of this forum and the caretaking you do. Cheers.

 

[roni]

you would need permission from HarperCollins

From what I've heared (and experienced), concerning any texts that have not yet been published by HC, be it unpublished manuscripts, letters or else, they would refer any asker to Linda Bukowski.
Not sure, how she would like to have His letters to another woman be published.

In ANY Way:
You should make high-definition colour scans from all of the letters, including the envelopes.
At least for reasons of conservation.

(When years ago Pamela Miller was searching everywhere for her lost letters from Hank, I was able to provide perfect scans from colour-xeroxes that Michael Montfort had made of them, due to his fanatic fandom. So, I'm all for digitizing and archiving VERY CAREFULLY.)

 

[Caris]

So, I'm all for digitizing and archiving VERY CAREFULLY.)

Yes, thanks, I am aware of the conservancy importance. I know how to handle fragile, old things and will give them all proper care and digital archiving. An old shoebox holds one big batch of his letters, and Aunt labeled it PRECIOUS in her distinct hand. Yes, they are.

 

[Caris]

So I read a number of the letters this evening, pushed by somebody’s muse, not my usuals. Most are signed typed Buk, one handwritten Hank, one emphatic, almost angry, BUKOWSKI. A couple were totally handwritten, one probably quite drunkenly, trailing into indecipherability. A few were left by Buk in Aunt’s mailbox, addressed in his hand to only her name or a charming derivation. Several were longing and sweet, others begged forbearance for his on and off with Linda (King), a couple had cute (dare I use that word? but they are) little drawings of himself and maybe a bottle instead of a return address (now I see as roni’s avatar, hmm - a known thing I see) It’s put me in a state. This is a beginning of something... I want to say precious but am shy of being precious. Fuck, priceless.

 

[Caris]

I’ve just had a read of the Letters section. Relieved to see how things have been gathered, gives me the best idea of what to with what I have, scan and upload so they are part of this and y’all can make of it what you will. Aunt turns 92 in a couple of days. Better get what stories I can, flesh out those in betweens. She was a writer for awhile, but after her experience with Buk, she pretty much stopped. I asked her why recently. She felt her work was derivative and didn’t deserve any attention. She stopped drinking around 1990 and started writing again in the aughts, but something had been drained out of her, it wasn’t any good. But her stories of her wicked life, now they, they are something else. In the meantime, I’ll get these letters archived. Cheers.

 

[roni]

upload so they are part of this

Excellent idea. Thank you so much in advance.

Better get what stories I can, flesh out those in betweens.

That's a wonderful idea. Too many oportunities to get first-hand information while people were still alive have been wasted.