Intresting story about 5124 DeLongpre (1 Viewer)

So I go there the other day and people are doing construction work on the courtyard so the gate thats usually around the courtyard is open so I go in, and then I go into bukowski's old bungalow, which was pretty rad.
So I go back the next night to show another friend, but the gate is closed and locked, but I notice bukowskis side/back door is open so I figured we could look inside through the gate. theres an old mexican(or some foregin) family outside. the daughter whose probably in her 30's says "wrong place, everyone always thinks that front bungalow was bukowski's but its the one behind it" I said how do you know, then the father, an elderly man, says hes owned the apartment building next door for 30 years(matter of fact im pretty sure buk lived in that building as well), the old man told me he use to drink and smoke with bukowski, and sometimes they'd even smoke marijuana and "fly high together", he showed me the back/side door that bukowski use to leave from because he owed rent so he couldnt go out the front door, he'd sneak out this side door into the dark then return with a pint. the man said bukowski had even written about him as "the nice landlord".
I actually recall in women bukowski talking about an old couple next door who'd he'd drink with then when the old man fell asleep he'd hold the old ladies hand, anyways, I think this was the guy.
 
Thanks for sharing the story and welcome to the forum, sloppy.

Don't mind Hooch, he is the fastest typer of darmouth.
 
yeah, I was totally stoked on meeting this man, also I was surprised that the actual bungalow bukowski lived in isnt 5124 but the one right behind it. I actually plan to go back with a 12 pack and a joint and find that man and interview him.

So this is like the "definitive" bukowski forum? glad I found you guys
 
I was surprised that the actual bungalow bukowski lived in isnt 5124 but the one right behind it.

Que? Could it be possible? We know that Bukowski did live at 5124 for a long time and according to this forum's time line, he lived at 5126 1/4 before that for a very short time. Are there two bungalows that are labeled 5124? If you look at his manuscripts, he was at 5124. Here is just one example:

&inmag=&onpage=0"]a great man speaks of great men.jpg

Could the landlord be confused?

I sure am....

Bill
 
Actually the bungalows are in like a courtyard and there's 5124, 5124 1/4, 5124 1/2, and so forth he lived in the one behind 5124 which I think is 5124 1/2
 
The pictures always seem to be in the front and the front yard. The windows on that side of the living room are only like that on the front bungalow.

If you look in the manuscripts (above left) the poems always have his address typed with 5124 De Longpre. On some of newer addresses he types the full address with the fraction.
 
...the old man told me he use to drink and smoke with bukowski, and sometimes they'd even smoke marijuana and "fly high together"...
I lived in San Pedro for 8 years, and there are (at least) 100 people down there who will tell you that they drank with Bukowski in this bar or that bar. They will swear to it. But the truth is, Linda said he never had a drink in any bar in San Pedro. I'm sure your old friend there on DeLongpre was drinking and flying high with someone, but it may not have been Bukowski.

One other thing that kind of doesn't wash in the story is there was not a period when he lived at DeLongpre where he didn't have rent money. He worked as a clerk at the post office the entire time he lived there. At least until 1970.

That, and I'm pretty sure the "nice landlord" wasn't the owner of the big box next door. Bukowski hated that box, and all the televisions and people screaming at him to quit typing after 9 p.m.

And he lived in the front unit. He said so in many poems and stories and people who visited him there also said it was the front.

So...
 
Well, that's it kids. Let's go see what everyone had for dinner.

Thanks mjp for clearing that up for us. I thought I was confused for a little bit there.
 
I dont think this guy was lying, his whole family was there and seemed to have known him as well. I mean the guy did own the building next door for the last 30 years
 
Have you ever been the victim of having your leg pulled? The best version is when a group of people are in on it.
Hey Welcome to the forum. There are volumes of good info about Bukowski in here, as well as his words. Keep posting.:)
 
I dont think this guy was lying, his whole family was there and seemed to have known him as well. I mean the guy did own the building next door for the last 30 years

Hi,
Bukowski lived at that residence (be it in the front or back) until 1973, so he moved away from that residence 35 years ago.

Of course, the landlord could have lived there before buying it 30 years ago, but if he bought it 30 years ago, that was 5 years after Bukowski moved away.

I do think that this guy could believe that it was Bukowski as he may get him confused with another person that lived there.

As far as smoking joints with him, I think that could very well have happened. It would not surprise me one bit.

What gets me is that the landlord insists that Buk did not live at 5124, when all of his mail over the years shows that even Buk believed that he lived there. He would have listed correctly (1/2 or 1/4), especially as he worked at the Post Office and knew that if he put the wrong address on all of his mail, it could get lost. When he lived at 5126 1/4, he listed it as such.

Plus, how could he write a poem about this "Nice Landlord" if this man did not own the house at the time.

I am a doubter, especially about old memories, so don't take this the wrong way. I'm not trying to bust anyone's balls. Like mjp said, there are 1,000 people who claim to have drank with Bukowski for every one that actually did drink with him.

Bill
 
And Hackford points to the front bungalow in the Born Into This extra footage. He visited Buk there a number of times, so I'm leaning more towards bad memory on the "nice landlord's" part.
 
The foreign landlord will also tell you that he use to run Henry Weinhards down around Saragosa. They were keepin' them dogies in the back bungalow.They was a longhorn.
 
I dont think this guy was lying, his whole family was there and seemed to have known him as well. I mean the guy did own the building next door for the last 30 years
I didn't suggest he was lying. But he is mistaken about at least some (if not all) of the things he told you.

As Bill pointed out, Bukowski left DeLongpre in 1973. That's 35 years ago. Five years before your new friend owned the building next door.

5126 1/4 DeLongpre is gone. The court that was 5126 is now an apartment building. Bukowski did not live in either of the buildings that are currently next to 5124.

This is not exactly a mysterious period in Bukowski's life. In fact it's one of the most well documented periods. Hundreds of people visited him there, in that front unit. He wrote about being in the front, window on the street, the banana tree that's still there, all that.

Believe what you want to believe, but the facts contradict the guy spinning tales for you over on DeLongpre.
 
That's funny, the first time I went by that place a guy started talking to me who said he had lived in that same building for 30 or 35 years and knew Bukowski. This guy had him sneaking out the back door to avoid fans, and said he lived in the second from front unit. I guess it's the thing to do!

Anyway, there are many poems that describe things he saw out his window at that property - which wouldn't have been possible if he hadn't lived in the front. However, didn't Linda live in a back unit for a spell? Seems like the dates would still be off though...
 

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