Robinson Jeffers, Charles Bukowski and Patrick Foy (1 Viewer)

Digney in Burnaby

donkeys live a long time
Been reading the Bukowski letters from 1987 to 1994 and Patrick Foy shows up a couple times. Tried to find information on his essay (turned to book?) The Second World War and its Aftermath but only came up with this essay about Robinson Jeffers and Charles Bukowski, especially Jeffers' isolationism.

In the responses to Foy, Bukowski seemed sympathetic.

Here's the essay.

Includes, in the text, a link to a tribute to Bukowski in the Jeffers newsletter.
 
Yea,

I'm Patrick Foy. The original essay ("The Second World War and its Aftermath") was expanded into a book manuscript which I also sent to Bukowski and to which he replied. The title of the book is The Unauthorized World Situation Report. It was finally published in 2005! If you go to Amazon and type in my name you will find the book and part of Bukowski's reply to me about the book. Bukowski was absolutely what one would call "anti-war", for lack of a better term. Amazing insights and clarity. He typed his letters to me, but the envelopes were done by hand.

Cheers,

Patrick
 
The title of the book is The Unauthorized World Situation Report. It was finally published in 2005! If you go to Amazon and type in my name you will find the book and part of Bukowski's reply to me about the book.

. . .

"Please forgive my taking so long to respond to the manuscript you sent me. That is, THE UNAUTHORIZED WORLD SITUATION REPORT. You are a very brave soul to take on the liars and the manipulators as you have. I would even go so far as to say that you have written yourself into a dangerous situation. There are too many of the entrenched who would be more than infuriated that you have blown the cover from their game.... Your fight against the inbred stupidity of the history of this century is a noble and a lonely one. I marvel at how you persist against the odds. I believe that your views are on the mark.... All those of us who are aware can do is to protect our own minds against this onslaught which has erased the sensibilities of almost all humans."
--Charles Bukowski
 
interesting. thanks for that and welcome to the forum patrick.

unfortunately, those words ring more true now than ever.
 
Patrick you mentioned Jeffers being one of the "Old Right." I can't help, but to place Bukowski into the category, and not just on the foreign affair stance, but also as a 'social conservative' if you will. What I gather out of his work: Stoicism, and self reliance - more like an anti-religious-anti-intellectual form of Ayn Rand (The Reagan-conservatives Mein-Kampf)
Although I strongly believe, In the current state of affairs, he would be equally appalled with the mainstream Liberals, as with Jingoistic Right wing.
 
... he would be equally appalled with the mainstream Liberals, as with Jingoistic Right wing.

If he could even differentiate between the two - hard to tell one fly from another on that dung heap in Washington. When your choice at the ballot is
A) Democrat - millionaire lawyer B) Republican - millionaire lawyer it's hard to say if your choice is based on who's more competent or who's less incompetent.
 
The Republicans are generally sexually repressed and therefore much more freaky, back-alley kinky, if that helps you decide which group of lawyers to trust.
 
Your avatar speaks volumes.;)

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Dear Bukowski students and fans...

Just wanted to clarify for the record that the Bukowski comment I quote at Amazon in connection with my book is a compilation of snippets from two letters he sent me pertaining to my views and my book. It might be worthwhile to quote his last letter to me in context and in its entirety. It was not included in Reach for the Sun, edited by Seamus Cooney, which was volume 3 of Bukowski's selected letters. Curiously, it helps illuminate America's current situation on the world's stage, and it shows that Bukowski was quite attuned to history and world affairs. I refer to it in Chapter IX ("Charles Bukowski, The Last Word") of my book, The Unauthorized World Situation Report. I had sent Bukowski a photo I had taken of Steffi Graf in the locker room at the Key Biscayne tournament after she had lost in a difficult match to Gabriel Sabatini in March of 1991. Also, enclosed was a poem I had written about a trip to Mykonos. Here is Bukowski's response:

4/15/91 8:34 PM

Hello Patrick:

Thanks for poem and photo, both good. No, I'm not a tennis freak but am a student of defeat. Have had a few lessons there.

Have meant to tell you about the good reads you've sent along. Your fight against the inbred stupidity of the history of this century is a noble and a lonely one. I marvel at how you persist against the odds. I believe that your views are on the mark. But the past propaganda has sunk almost all minds into an oblivious acceptance of the deathly lie. They are unable to go back and undo the massive errors because then our vaunted leaders, our historical heroes would be uncovered as frauds and fakes. And think of the millions of lives lost for so-called great causes. All these lives, then, would have to be admitted as totally wasted, not for the right reasons but for all the wrong ones. This monstrous game is too far gone to be righted; it would drive men and mothers, almost everybody, to rage and madness. But what is the most horrifying thing of all is that the game continues, not only in the same fashion but in a more soulless way through the same greed and fear, and through a practice learned and honed so well that the bigger the liars, the more they will be believed in.

All those few of us who are aware can do is to protect our own minds against this onslaught which has erased the sensibilities of almost all humans.

yes,

Charles Bukowski
 

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