The mystery of Jane C. Cooney (Baker) (4 Viewers)

Petey

RIP
I did some further research in the net in addional to this threads:

- https://bukowskiforum.com/threads/marriage-eyes.7682/
- https://bukowskiforum.com/threads/twice-divorced-by-1960.4884/
- https://bukowskiforum.com/threads/the-birds-gallows-1959.3485/
- https://bukowskiforum.com/threads/1-500-pieces-of-ass-and-2-wives-by-1966.4887/

and found the marriage license from Graig K. Baker and Jane C. Cooney dated 13th July of 1943.

According to Sounes in " Locked in the Arms..." page 28 it was 25 Jan. of 1928...?

And I was wondering about the note of " divorced " and " number of marriage: 2nd "

Anyone here to bring some light into the dark ?


But anyway, it seems that the right column shows her original handwriting and signature which makes the whole thing a bit romantic for me....

It was Jane , the big love of this life.....

Her grave in L.A. is still ummarked but she is not forgotten ...
 

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There aren't many answers really - either she didn't marry Craig Baker in 1928 (did you look at New Mexico marriage records?), or she married him, later divorced him, and then they remarried in Los Angeles.

It's interesting that the Bakers lived on S. Union Drive in 1942, then Bukowski moved there in 1948 right before meeting her. I assume she was still living there, or nearby, at that point. If she or Bukowski had moved somewhere else they probably would have never met. Though I imagine he would have been drawn to someone else who was a lot like her.

Easier to read version of your document:

Untitled-1.jpg
 
or she married him, later divorced him, and then they remarried in Los Angeles.

This would make sense, because I found a newspaper as well which mentioned 1928 for the (first) wedding.

Still it's unusal even more in this times, and no biography mentioned this fact.

It would be very cool to discover a new photo from Jane except the one we already know from her year book.

At least two weddings, four brothers/sisters, one son and one daughter with at least one grandchild and nobody is able to provide a pic ?
 
I was always disappointed that there is only one photograph, even with her life of the periphery. Certainly there are more out there - and as interest in Bukowski grows (more books, deeper research), I'm sure they will be found(attic somewhere).
 
It's interesting that the Bakers lived on S. Union Drive in 1942, then Bukowski moved there in 1948 right before meeting her.

I didn't know that. What happened to Craig Baker? I remember reading somewhere (Sounes?) that he divorced her because of her alcoholism?
 
Certainly there are more out there

I will write an article about Jane for the year book of the german "Bukowski Society" and are digging right now...

I didn't know that. What happened to Craig Baker? I remember reading somewhere (Sounes?) that he divorced her because of her alcoholism?

Craig Baker died in a drunken car accident for which Jane blamed herself, and THEN she began to drink heavily.

Although she liked partying in the age of 10 ....( Albuquerque morning journal. 29 Aug. 1920 )

Untitled-1.jpg
 
The biographers (Sounes,Cherkovski..) mentioned all it was the " Glenview Bar " where B. met Jane the first time, but in the timeline it's " Glenwood Bar "......?
 
Not sure why there's a discrepancy there. Bukowski didn't mention either one, so I may have got Glenwood from some Los Angeles research. Or it may just be a typo. ;) I'll see if I can find anything around here that would explain the difference. If I can't find any reason for Glenwood I'll change it to Glenview.
 
Found another proof for this fact as mentioned in the timeline:

"While biographers place their first meeting in 1947, details in the unpublished novel Streetwalker suggest that it was actually 1948"

"Remains" by Charles Bukowski written in 1963

things are good as I am not dead yet
and the rats move in the beercans,
the papersacks shuffle like small dogs,
and her photographs are stuck onto a painting
by a dead German and she too is dead
and it took 14 years to know her
and if they give me another 14
I will know her yet...
her photos stuck over the glass
neither move nor speak,
but I even have her voice on tape,
and she speaks some evenings,
her again
so real she laughs
says the thousands things,
the one thing I always ignored;
this will never leave me:
that I had love
and love died;
a photo and a piece of tape
is not much, I have learned late,
but give me 14 days or 14 years,
I will kill any man
who would touch or take
whatever's left.

This is my favorite Jane poem. Jane died in 1962. Deduct 14 years and here we go to 1948.

Guys, I would give my right arm for the god damn photo(s).
 
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Well, there you go, that must be where it came from, since there's no mention (online anyway) of a Glenwood or a Glenview bar on or around Alvarado, so I used what he wrote. Of course he fictionalized names too, so it could still be Glenview. I'd like to be able to find a record of the joint either way.

As far as placing the year as 1948, I used the bit where she complained about getting on the bus at 7th and Alvarado and he said he only lived a few blocks from there. That would mean he lived on Union, and that wasn't until 1948 (though he was also "a few blocks away" in a different place on Union in 1949...so it could have been even later...).

In 1947 he was on Figueroa (and in Philadelphia), both far from 7th and Alvarado.
I even have her voice on tape...
Now that would be something to hear.
 
I'd like to be able to find a record of the joint either way.

I´m in contact with the "L.A. Historical Society" regarding my Jane research anyway, so I asked them today for an addional job...;)

Another question about this wonderful poem:

Barfly
Jane, who has been dead for 31 years,
never could have
imagined that I would write a screenplay of our drinking
days together
and
that it would be made into a movie
and
that a beautiful movie star would play her
part.

I can hear Jane now: “A beautiful movie star? oh,
for Christ’s sake!”

Jane, that’s show biz, so go back to sleep, dear, because
no matter how hard they tried they
just couldn’t find anybody exactly like
you.

and neither can
I.


Curious that it`s been written in 1988 because it's started with: " Jane, who has been dead for 31 years,". She passed away 1962 so it would be 1993.

https://web.archive.org/web/2020/https://bukowski.net/database/detail.php?WorkNumber=667

MJP, it would be cool and helpful if you could move or copy all the stuff about Jane ( from wednesday on) addional in my Jane thread.

https://bukowskiforum.com/threads/the-mystery-of-jane-c-cooney-baker.11444/
 
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I´m in contact with the "L.A. Historical Society" regarding my Jane research anyway, so I asked them today for an addional job

The answer was they have no archives to check this out.....

Is the poem above from New York Quarterly or from one of the posthumous collections?

I don't own the posthumous ones, you know why... , found the poem online without source but I guess it's from the posthumous.

Here you can see the back issues of the NYQ which confirmed 1988.... Very odd....

http://nyq.org/issues/?limit=30&offset=10&view=
 
This is a 1921 map. The center of the image is the intersection of 7th and Alvarado, and if you look just below that center you can see THE GLENWOOD.

glenwood.jpg


This view shows the Glenwood on the left and Bukowski's Union Ave apartment on the right.

glenwood2.jpg


The entire 1921 map of Los Angeles is here on this site in wonderful high resolution (downloadable) images.
 
This is so fucking cool, dude. Many thanks.

The "Glenview Bar" was mentioned first in Cherkovski's bio and all the later ones did just copy paste without any further research...

But this is the place to get things straight !
 
The Glenwood building is still there...

GlenwoodA.jpg


And of course 737 S Union is still there. You can still go around back to the alley where he wrote about looking up to see if the lights were on in their room after walking home from work at Millirons. Usually they were not, and she was gone...

Glenwood2a.jpg


I'm going to take some pictures of the buildings that are still standing one of these days (soon), so I can get rid of the Google maps images that are used in the timeline. When I'm on Union I'll make sure to get a picture from the alley too.

The "Glenview Bar" was mentioned first in Cherkovski's bio and all the later ones did just copy paste without any further research...
Well, Bukowski said that Cherkovski got a lot of things wrong, even after Bukowski corrected him.

That people just repeated the information in Cherkovski's bio as fact only demonstrates what's wrong with most "research." It isn't research at all, it's just quoting from previously published things. Whether they're right or wrong. You see that most often in academic research, which is often lazy. But it's academic research! so people accept it without question.

We have to keep questioning, it's the only way to get close to the reality of things. That's what I like about most of Abel's work. He doesn't take anything for granted.
 
You can still go around back to the alley where he wrote about looking up to see if the lights were on in their room after walking home from work at Millirons. Usually they were not and she was gone...

Perhaps an odd request, but how about trying that Holga out for this photo...and then make T-Shirts. That's one of the most haunting and affecting pieces of writing he ever did. It gets me every time.
 
If taking requests, and if you have time, could you take a front and back pick of the Grand Central Market which hopefully is still on Broadway around I think 3rd st. I ate lunch there most days for years but haven't seen it since 2005. Also, maybe Langers too if you're gonna be around Westlake. Uh, I guess that's it...:wb:
 
I would like two pictures of a yeti: one where the yeti is wearing Ray Bans, a Brooklyn Dodgers hat, and those yellow headphones from a Sony Walkman but they aren't plugged into a Walkman. The yeti must be drinking a Zima; and another picture of the yeti looking for Clark Gable's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In sepia.

Thanking you in advance.
 
how about trying that Holga out for this photo...
I can bring a Holga, sure. Though I have a drawer full of undeveloped Holga film, so I don't know when any new Holga pics I take might see the light of day. Maybe it's time to take those rolls in to the processing joint.
the Grand Central Market which hopefully is still on Broadway around I think 3rd st...
The Grand Central Market is still there. I think it will always be there. Langer's too. I doubt Langer's has changed since you went there. Some things just seem to endure while everything around them changes.
The yeti must be drinking a Zima...
I can probably get a picture of a Yeti (it's Los Angeles), but the Zima might be difficult.

It's funny to see how big MacArthur Park Lake was on those old maps. It's about half the size now. Looks like they had to fill part of it in to extend Wilshire across the park.

westlake.jpg


macLake.jpg
 
Yes, get on the bus, children...get on the bus...we're stopping to see the cupcakes at Bukowski's favorite bakery. Sorry, no outside food or drink on the bus. Stay in your seats...I'll be by to collect everyone's credit cards shortly...it's surge-pricing fare today, because the Dodgers are having a home game. Look to your left and you can see where Shakey's pizza used to be...Bukowski was known to eat pizza there, yet in his writing he claimed that he did not like pizza...you heard it here first. Next we're headed to where something else used to be. No flash photography. Stay in your seats. And here's a wonderful surprise that isn't on the itinerary...look to your right and you can see the laundromat where Bukowski brought his shirts and bed sheets! The proprietor of that establishment will be joining us to tell some fascinating stories about Bukowski's laundry when we slow the bus down as we pass Musso & Frank's. We're legally prohibited from coming to a full stop in front of most of the locations on the route, so he'll be jumping on...please stay clear of the doors and keep your hands on your laps. In 20 minutes we'll arrive at the Terminal Annex Post Office where we are allowed to stop, and you are welcome to step off the bus for five minutes and stand in the very parking lot where Bukowski may have possibly stood only 50 years ago. You will feel his presence, we guarantee it. After the bus cools down we'll continue on to - excuse me...you, back there with the Snickers bar...give that to me. No outside food or drink on the bus, I thought we went over that. If you look quickly to your left, we just passed a 7-11 that used to be a drug store where Bukowski once bought socks and typing paper. It brings you back in time, doesn't it? If you close your eyes you can feel yourself smack-dab in the middle of the Hollywood of the 1960s and 70s...I said close your eyes. Okay. Are everyone's eyes closed? I'm going to walk down the aisle to check, so no peeking. Good. Does everyone smell that? If you don't smell anything raise your hand and I'll come and spray near you...
 
Back to business ladies and gents.... :wb:

Well, Bukowski said that Cherkovski got a lot of things wrong, even after Bukowski corrected him.

Reach for the sun, page 281 a letter to Kevin Ring , Feb. 9, 1993

" On Hank, I am very disappointed in the book. It is virtually unreadable. Very bad writing. Dull, inept. I gave Neeli hours of tape, really good stuff, of wild and wonderful times, crazy times, deadly times but he put none of it in. He has lived a very protective life, so unsubconsciously I guess he didn’t believe the things I had been through. Also, various inaccuracies...."

" And on top of that , none of the original photos and other materials were returned. Lost , I was told. Lost."

In " Born into this " you can see Cherkovski reading some letters from B. to the Post Office administration....

Jesus, where are the hours of tapes and all the other stuff ?

Well, I sent him a mail, let's see if he will response....
 
Talking about lost materials , I started my research as well at the universities :

http://www.azarchivesonline.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/uoa/UAMS171.xml

Box: 20 Folder: 6 mentioned :

Photos (three) of two unidentified women.

Even the chance was 1 : 10.000 for a new photo from Jane I asked them to provide a scan.

See the answer below:


"I have personally looked at every single box from both Bukowski's collections (MS 148 & MS171). I was not able to find any photographs in either of these collections. I am really sorry. "


That's a shame, seems some fuckers had stolen all the stuff....
 
Well guys, it was a tough challenge and a fucking puzzle to find Jane's kids in the US.

The problem in locating them was multiple. The names are common. If Mary married, she would have changed her name. They could be anywhere in America. Also, they may not want to be associated with Jane’s story. They may not want to be found.

But at least I located the son Jo, I don't have any clue right now what happend to Mary. It seems she passed away before Jo because she was not mentioned in the obituary I found.

John Martin gave me an essential hint to Colorado so that I focused my research to this region.

The storry is that Jo sold shortly before he passed away " Flower Fist..." and " Broke Players " inscribed to Jane to a bookstore in Boulder. Jesus, they will be worth 15K each at least now...

I contacted now the relatives from Jo ( his wife passed away before him ) so let's cross fingers that they will share their part and view of the Jane myth.

This is the only option to locate the Bukowski/Cooney letters and a new photo from Jane.

Received this mail today from the " Huntington " :

"I am sorry to report that I found no references to Jane Cooney Baker in our Bukowski collections, beyond poems that may refer to her. There is no correspondence or other information."

So all my hope remains in the cooperation of the descendants....


Well and keep an close eye to the birth date....Deja Vu !

P.S. the C means Craig ( the name of his father / not Cooney..)

Jo C. Baker.jpg
 
Well, my mission is now more or less completed with the second photo which was ever discovered from our dear Jane.

The story behind the story is that I lost my job at the U.S. company Avery Dennison which I hated anyway some month ago. They made the decision to close our location in Germany and went to Romania. But the fuckers have to pay my salary for one more year, and I have to do nothing....

So what to do with all the time on hand ? Go for a one year drunk ?, writing poetry or playing the horses... ?
Nope, so I did a thing I would like always to do, but had never the time for ...


Research for the best place in the whole damn internet and the German Bukowski Society.


So I´m pretty sure Jane is the second lady at the bottom in the PDF below, the one with the wonderful legs as mentioned many times from B.

Keep an eye to the right upper corner as well. This is really cool...

In addional you can see and compare the picture which was firstly discoverd from Howard Sounes or you can take a look here [Removed link that is no longer active.].

Now I am looking forward to the reply of Jane's descendants. Hopefully they will share some further pics in her later years.
A photo from Jane and B.posing as a couple would be the jackpot !

Jane-1927.jpg


jane.jpg


jane3.png
 

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Nice detective work, Petey.

Funny that she was on the debate team. I'm sure that training served her well in dealing with Bukowski. ;)
So I´m pretty sure Jane is the second lady at the bottom in the PDF below
I think there may be a little more detective work needed. The second girl in the first row parts her hair over her left eye, but in the known picture of Jane from that yearbook she parts her hair over her right eye. That's not something that would likely change from day to day, so maybe you have to look at the girls with the right side part to try to find Jane...

jane-x.jpg


I edited the pictures displayed in your post, but left your original files there for downloading.
 
Very nice, Petey!! Have you checked other yearbooks from the same period? Chances are you'll find Jane in them

I did all my research from my desk in Germany but my contacts in the U.S. are still digging for more.

I think there may be a little more detective work needed. The second girl in the first row parts her hair over her left eye, but in the known picture of Jane from that yearbook she parts her hair over her right eye. That's not something that would likely change from day to day, so maybe you have to look at the girls with the right side part to try to find Jane...

The " Sounes photo " is from 1927 and the " new one " is from 1926 so maybe she changed her look of the hair in this year.

But you are right , there a still some doubts...


@ -to the ladies on the forum we need your input here !
 
So I´m pretty sure Jane is the second lady at the bottom in the PDF below, the one with the wonderful legs as mentioned many times from B.
Bukowski described Jane's face in his unpublished novel Streetwalker as "roundish", which is confirmed by the Sounes photo. The face of the girl you are pointing at looks pretty oval. My guess would be the second lady at the bottom in the picture too, but the second from the right.
 
I think it's the girl dead centre too, same shape face, her hair is slighter thicker and longer, although she's at a different angle, her eyes are the same; a bit deep set and same shape mouth, but it's more her pose it just looks the same.
What a wonderful photo to find Petey!:) well done. Even if she isn't in there.
 
i'd say second from bottom right as well.

small mouth, same face and eyebrow shape, same hairstyle and wave (wrong side but photo may be printed flipped or she changed the part)

fun to speculate though and cool find petey!
 

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