Charles Bukowski Landmark Hearing Rescheduled: Will the Nazi Accusations Fly?

For immediate release

November 20, 2007

Charles Bukowski Landmark Hearing Rescheduled: Will the Nazi Accusations Fly?

http://5124delongpre.org/

LOS ANGELES- Thursday, November 15th, was to be the day when the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission decided whether to landmark poet and novelist Charles Bukowski's former East Hollywood residence at 5124 De Longpre Avenue. This is where Bukowski wrote "Post Office" and "Factotum," where "Women" was set, and more importantly, the place where he willed himself into being as a writer.

But the CHC hearing was postponed, due to an extension filed by the property owners' attorney. The attorney does not deny that Charles Bukowski wrote much of his important work at De Longpre, but intends to challenge the landmarking on two counts: that Charles Bukowski was a Nazi sympathizer, and that he was a person of low moral character. This flurry of character assassination is the last minute method chosen by the property owners, who have ignored past attempts at discussion by the CHC, to block the landmarking process. These Nazi sympathizer accusations stem from discredited claims by Ben Pleasants, a former friend of Bukowski's who published a collection of anecdotes about the writer in 2004. Verifiable Nazi sympathies appear nowhere in the many biographies, the documentaries or in Bukowski's highly confessional work, and have been refuted by many of the writer's friends, lovers and colleagues.

A new hearing date has been set for Thursday, Nov. 29th at 10 am in room 1010 at City Hall, during which the landmarking applicants will speak, followed by the landlords' attorney. All interested parties are urged to attend to show support for the landmarking of the longtime home of this seminal Los Angeles writer and to protest these offensive allegations, which have been made in order to clear the way for the landlords to sell this important literary residence as a $1.3 million tear down, as previously advertised on Craigslist.

All updates will be posted on the Delongpre blog at http://5124delongpre.org/

Charles Bukowski home preservation activist Lauren Everett and Bukowski bus tour host Richard Schave of Esotouric are available for interviews. Contact Lauren at mydarlingclementyne@yahoo.com, (310) 699-1142. Contact Richard at schavester@gmail.com, 323-223-2767.

Celebrate Great LA Noir Fiction With Esotouric's December Literary Bus Tours

For immediate release

November 20, 2007

Celebrate Great LA Noir Fiction With Esotouric's December Literary Bus Tours

LOS ANGELES- In December Esotouric, the eclectic bus adventure company whose tours reveal L.A.'s secret history, rolls out a quartet of tours in honor of the city's great noir authors living and dead: James Ellroy, Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain. The days are getting shorter, and the nights colder, and it's the perfect time to curl up with a classic LA book—or to get on the toasty Crime Bus.

On December 22 with a repeat performance on December 29—both of which sold out within a day of being announced--James Ellroy hosts "James Ellroy Digs LA," a new tour through the city that haunts his dreams and inspires his art. Passengers will gather at Arnie Morton's downtown bar, then accompany the author in a luxurious coach class bus on an uncensored time travel journey to tony Hancock Park, where he stalked his teenage classmates and later broke into houses. . . to the Hollywood flats to explore some of the heinous 1950s murder cases that fascinated him as a youth and continue to feed his obsessions. . . and out to El Monte, where his mother Geneva was murdered, the unsolved crime that runs through all his work, from "The Black Dahlia" to "My Dark Places." James Ellroy says, "I dig L.A. because I'm from here. My parents hatched me in a cool locale. I'm desperate to impress people, I'm a good talker, I know a shitload about L.A. and I want to share it. On this tour, you'll get L.A. crime and social history on an unparalleled AND intimate scale."

On December 15, Richard Schave hosts "Serenade: James M. Cain's Southern California Nightmare." In his best known novels (each one also made into a classic film) "The Postman Always Rings Twice," "Mildred Pierce" and "Double Indemnity," Cain painted a jaundiced portrait of a Southern California that was in stark contrast to the orange groves and mission bells sold by the city's boosters. Cain's LA was full of loose women with murder on their minds, lust-drenched cads who'd destroy their lives for a dame, rotten kids, suckers and saps. The tour explores Cain's life and work and how both were transformed when he reached the Southland, as well as the artisans who transformed Cain's tales into movies, including Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler, Joan Crawford and Lana Turner.

And on December 8, Richard Schave hosts "Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles: In A Lonely Place." The tour spans Chandler's L.A. from downtown landmarks that appear in thinly disguised form in his fiction to his favorite Hollywood haunts, and includes some off-the-bus-adventures, including a stop in the Barclay Hotel lobby to talk about the ice pick murder from "The Little Sister" and a visit to Scoops for complementary Chandler-themed gelato. From his pre-literary career as a failed, fired oil executive in boomtown 1910s downtown to his glory years penning pristine magazine pulp to the creative conflicts that dogged his highly paid, miserable years as a screenwriter and the boozy whirlwind that pulled him into the grave, the tour is a complex portrait of a compelling, brilliant and haunted soul.

It's a noir December in Los Angeles, and Esotouric is there to provide the backdrop. Get on the bus this month to see the unexpected and learn why the editors of the Downtown News named Esotouric "Best Downtown Tour."

Upcoming Esotouric bus tour schedule:
Sat Dec 8 - Raymond Chandler's LA
Sat Dec 15 - James M. Cain's So California Nightmare
Sat Dec 22 – James Ellroy Digs L.A.
Sat Dec 29 – James Ellroy Digs L.A.
Sun Jan 15 - Vroman's Bookstore presents The Real Black Dahlia

For more info on Esotouric, please visit http://www.esotouric.com

James Ellroy is available for interviews, as are Esotouric's Kim Cooper and Richard Schave. Contact Kim at amscray@gmail.com, 323-223-2767.

Spend Xmas With the Demon Dog on the James Ellroy Digs L.A. Bus Tour

For immediate release

November 13, 2007

Spend Xmas With the Demon Dog on the James Ellroy Digs L.A. Bus Tour

WHAT: Esotouric presents "James Ellroy Digs L.A."
WHEN: Saturday December 22, 1pm-5pm
COST: $60
WHERE: departing from Arnie Morton's Steakhouse, 735 S Figueroa St., LA 90017

LOS ANGELES- Best-selling crime novelist James Ellroy has built his career digging deep into the underworld lore of L.A., drawing connections between his personal experience and the complex real world histories of cops, killers, victims and journalists.

Now James Ellroy teams up with Esotouric, the eclectic bus adventure company whose tours reveal L.A.'s secret history, to debut his personal guided tour through the city that haunts his dreams and inspires his art. Riding shotgun and curating the experience is Kim Cooper, creator of the 1947project time travel blog and host of Esotouric's true crime tours, including The Real Black Dahlia.

Passengers on "James Ellroy Digs L.A." will gather at Arnie Morton's downtown bar (opened specially for our party), then accompany the author in a luxurious coach class bus on an uncensored time travel journey to tony Hancock Park, where he stalked his teenage classmates and later broke into houses. . . to the Hollywood flats to explore some of the heinous 1950s murder cases that fascinated him as a youth and continue to feed his obsessions. . . and out to El Monte, where his mother Geneva was murdered, the unsolved crime that runs through all his work, from "The Black Dahlia" to "My Dark Places."

James Ellroy says, "I dig L.A. because I'm from here. My parents hatched me in a cool locale. I'm desperate to impress people, I'm a good talker, I know a shitload about L.A. and I want to share it. On this tour, you'll get L.A. crime and social history on an unparalleled AND intimate scale."

So get on the bus at Arnie Morton's in downtown LA on December 22 and spend your holidays with the demon dog of American literature, on what's sure to be the coolest ticket in town. Seats are extremely limited on this special event tour; and sorry, no discounts or Esotouric season pass tickets will be honored.

Upcoming Esotouric bus tour schedule:
Sat Nov 17 – Pasadena Confidential tour
Sat Dec 8 - Raymond Chandler's LA
Sat Dec 15 - James M. Cain's So California Nightmare
Sat Dec 22 – James Ellroy Digs L.A.
Sun Jan 15 - Vroman's edition, The Real Black Dahlia

For more info on Esotouric, please visit http://www.esotouric.com
For info on this tour, visit http://www.esotouric.com/ellroy

James Ellroy is available for interviews, as is Esotouric's Kim Cooper. Contact Kim at amscray@gmail.com, 323-223-2767.

Charles Bukowski's Literary Legacy: a preservation challenge

For immediate release

November 5, 2007

Charles Bukowski's Literary Legacy: a preservation challenge

WHAT: L.A. Cultural Heritage Commission votes on Bukowski home landmarking
WHEN: Thursday November 15, 10 AM
WHERE: L.A. City Hall, Temple/Main Streets, room 1010. Press and public welcome.

LOS ANGELES- On Thursday, November 15th, the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission will decide whether to landmark poet and novelist Charles Bukowski's former East Hollywood residence at 5124 De Longpre Avenue. Bukowski lived there during his watershed period when he went from civil servant postal employee to internationally-acclaimed poet. It was at De Longpre that his novels "Post Office" and "Factotum" were written and "Women" was set. Also here, he achieved cult status in the Los Angeles underground press with his "Notes of a Dirty Old Man" column in the "Open City" newspaper.

But the literary significance of De Longpre is far greater than the works which Bukowski wrote there. For this was the place where he willed himself into being as a writer. Over the course of many late nights, between the tap of his typewriter keys and countless cigarettes and beer bottles drained, he transformed himself from just another working class stiff with a soul to an internationally acclaimed, and uniquely Angeleno, author.

The challenge before the Cultural Heritage Commission is how it can landmark a site of obvious literary significance. In the past the Commission has simply designated structures for their architectural significance. But in Los Angeles, there is no precedence for how to recognize a building purely because important creative work was done there. Do they focus on the structure as it was in the 1960s, when Bukowski moved in? The 1920s, when it was originally constructed? Do they focus on Bukowski's bungalow alone, or the entire row of little houses? What best reflects the building and the writer's work? These are some of the challenges facing the Commission members as they decide their votes.

And once this decision to designate as a landmark is made, what then? Once named as a landmark, the buildings will need a long-term preservation plan that pays appropriate tribute to Bukowski's literary legacy. The Jack Kerouac House in Florida and L.A.'s Schindler-designed MAK Center in Mid-Wilshire offer two possible solutions, artist-in-residency programs administered by non-profit agencies. But what agency will step in to run a Bukowski Arts Colony in East Hollywood?

The CHC will hold its hearing on the Charles Bukowski landmarking on Nov. 15th at 10 am in City Hall, room 1010. Your attendance and coverage is appreciated.

Charles Bukowski home preservation activist Lauren Everett and Bukowski bus tour host Richard Schave of Esotouric are available for interviews. Contact Lauren at mydarlingclementyne@yahoo.com, (310) 699-1142. Contact Richard at schavester @gmail.com, 323-223-2767.

Esotouric's Pasadena Confidential Crime Bus Tour Explores the Crown City's Dark Side

For immediate release

October 10, 2007

Esotouric's Pasadena Confidential Crime Bus Tour Explores the Crown City's Dark Side

WHAT: Esotouric Bus Adventures presents the Pasadena Confidential Crime Bus Tour
WHEN: Saturday November 17, 1-5pm
COST: $55, which includes snacks and beverages (or get a four-tour season pass for $190)
WHERE: Departs from Fair Oaks and Arlington Street, South Pasadena.

LOS ANGELES- On November 17, Esotouric, the eclectic bus adventure company whose offbeat tours expose L.A.'s secret history, offers its infreqent and popular Pasadena Confidential tour, a true crime bus adventure delving deep into the weird and horrible past of one of L.A.'s most exclusive suburbs.

Making a special appearance on this tour: Crimebo the Crime Clown!

Crime fiends will enjoy a four-hour guided luxury coach tour to the darkest recesses of Pasadena history. From celebrated cases like the RFK assassination, "Eraserhead" star Jack Nance's strange end, black magician/rocket scientist Jack Parsons' death-by-misadventure and the 1926 Rose Parade grand stand collapse, to fascinating obscurities, the tour's multitude of murders, arsons, kidnappings, robberies, suicides, auto wrecks and oddball happening sites provide a alternate history of Pasadena that's as fascinating as it is creepy.

Crime Bus passengers will tour the old Millionaire's Row on Orange Grove, thrill to the shocking Sphinx Murder on the steps of the downtown Masonic Hall, wonder about the unknown fiend who sneaked past a little girl to poison her father's beer, thrill to the misadventures of one very poorly-behaved (but beautifully dressed!) chimpanzee and discover why people named Judd should think twice before moving to Pasadena.

Riders on this eye-opening, funny and informative tour will forever see Pasadena in a new light. It is highly recommended for natives and newcomers alike, crime and history buffs and anyone who likes to seek out the unexpected.


Upcoming Esotouric bus tour schedule:
Sat Oct 20– The Real Black Dahlia tour
Sun Oct 21 – Where the Action Was (rock history tour)
Sat Oct 27 – Haunts of a Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowski's LA
Sun Oct 28 – Hallowe'en Horrors featuring Crimebo the Clown
Sat Nov 10 – Hotel Horrors and Main Street Vice tours
Sat Nov 17 – Pasadena Confidential tour

Tour hosts Kim Cooper, Nathan Marsak and Crimebo the Clown are available for interviews. Contact Kim at amscray@gmail.com, 323-223-2767.

For more info on Esotouric, please visit http://www.esotouric.com
For more on the 1947project crime a day blog (current year 1927), see http://www.1947project.com

November 10: Hotel Horrors and Main Street Vice historic downtown LA bus tours

For immediate release

October 10, 2007

November 10: Hotel Horrors and Main Street Vice historic downtown LA bus tours

WHAT: Esotouric presents Hotel Horrors and Main Street Vice
WHEN: Saturday November 10, 1-2:30pm (Hotel), 3:30pm-5pm (Main)
COST: $25 for one tour, or ride both for $45
WHERE: Both depart from Cafe Metropol, tours cover downtown LA's historic core

LOS ANGELES- From the founding of the city through the 1940s, downtown was the true center of Los Angeles, a lively, densely populated, exciting and sometimes dangerous place. After many quiet decades, downtown is making an incredible return. But while many of the historic buildings remain, their human context has been lost.

That's why Esotouric, the eclectic bus adventure company whose tours reveal the secret history of L.A. through crime, culture, literature and architecture, is offering two new downtown tours meant to bring alive the old ghosts and memories that cling to the streets and structures of the historic core. These tours were launched in September to thank the downtown community and Downtown News for voting Esotouric Best Downtown Tour earlier this summer. This is the second time they have been offered, after a sold out debut.

Hotel Horrors and Main Street Vice are both are hosted by Esotouric founders Kim Cooper and Richard Schave. The 90-minute tours begin at Cafe Metropol (near the old Santa Fe train terminal at Third and Santa Fe, better known today as SCI-Arc) and meander through downtown, with a one-hour snack and conversation break between them. On each tour we'll visit the scenes of crimes and interesting happenings, and share vintage photographs of the scenes as they appeared up to 100 years ago.

Tour #1 is Hotel Horrors, a true crime and oddities tour featuring some of the wildest, weirdest, goriest and most memorable happenings in historic hotels like the Alexandria, Rosslyn, Barclay and Cecil. Get on the bus to find out where Night Stalker Richard Ramirez liked to stay and the hotel that saw a visit from the Skid Row Slasher, plus which hotel was the choice of Columbian drug mules with cocaine in their platform shoes, what lobby hosted a small scale anarchist riot, where two traveling chocolate salesmen laughed so hard they fell backwards out a window to their deaths and the truth about the myth that Beth "The Black Dahlia" Short was last seen alive at the Biltmore. We'll explore the fiery curse that repeatedly leveled the St. George Hotel and thrill to the litany of stars who stayed at the long-lost and truly grand Hotel Nadeau (now site of the L.A. Times building) including actresses Sarah Bernhardt and Lily Langtree, Henry M. Stanley of “Dr. Livingston, I presume” fame, singer Nellie Melba, Mark Twain and Hawaiian King Kalakua and Queen Liliuokalani. Also included are some light hearted stories to help the blood and gore go down.

Tour #2 is Main Street Vice, a celebration of the ribald, racy, raunchy old promenade where the better people simply did not travel, but kicks were had by all who did. Burlesque babes and dirty picture parlors, mummified old west outlaws and old time tattoo parlors, wax museums and pawn brokers, "professors" offering sex lectures and magazine peddlers with nudie Marilyn Monroe calendars under the counter, sophisticated steak houses and nickel donut dives -- these were the pleasures and the people to be found along Main during the first half of the 20th century, a street that every Angeleno knew offered more (yet less) of what could be seen anywhere else. On this tour, we'll visit the scenes of some more unforgettable debaucheries and share stories of crime, smut, passion and commerce. The tour runs primarily along Main Street, with a few detours to explore similar entertainments offered in the vicinity of Main.

Upcoming Esotouric bus tour schedule:
Sat Oct 20– The Real Black Dahlia tour
Sun Oct 21 – Where the Action Was (rock history tour)
Sat Oct 27 – Haunts of a Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowski's LA
Sun Oct 28 – Hallowe'en Horrors featuring Crimebo the Clown
Sat Nov 10 – Hotel Horrors and Main Street Vice tours
Sat Nov 17 – Pasadena Confidential tour

For more info on Esotouric, please visit http://www.esotouric.com
For more on the 1947project crime a day blog (current year 1927), see http://www.1947project.com

Hotel Horrors tour hosts Richard Schave and Kim Cooper are available for interviews. Contact Kim at amscray@gmail.com, 323-223-2767.

For all current press releases

please visit our RSS feed attached to the main Explosive PR site.