In February of 2018, I met up with Ed Blair. You probably know about Ed. In 1963, Mr. Blair guaranteed purchase of 100 copies of Bukowski’s first “real book”, It Catches My Heart In Its Hands, in order to enable the LouJon Press to pay for the paper to print it. At that time, Blair was an oilman in NOLA and very hip to Bukowski and the Beats. He was a fairly major Bukowski collector and has gone on to publish some interesting items. But you probably know this. I made his picture of Ed clutching his copy of Crucifix in a Deathhand (inscribed to him by both Jon and Gypsy Lou, with a drawing by Bukowski dated March 12, 1965) the day we met for coffee. He gave me a great walking tour of the quarter, specifically to both LouJon locations. I was going to leave this meeting and drive to the nursing home in Slidell to photograph Lou, who at that time was 102 -- I believe. Anyway, I chickened out.
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