|
Isabel Preaches the Good News (of Henry Miller) in Spain!
Each Library VFL is like a Johnny Appleseed, who, upon leaving Big Sur, sets forth to all corners of the globe spreading the, uhhh, figurative ... um...seed of one Henry Miller.
(Deepest apologies for a most unfortunate analogy.)
Take Isabel, for example (above).
She's the best.
She's from Spain!
She volunteered at the Library over the summer.
(Did we mention she is la mejor?)
Isabel returned to Spain and curated a Henry Miller exhibition entitled The Happy Rock-- an homage to Brassaï's book on Henry-- during the local Banned Book Fair, just outside the city.
It was a resounding success!
Click here for more info and exclusive photos all the way from Spain!!!
| |
|
Can you believe it? We're on Instagram! Click that camera icon above for proof!
| |
|
Behold: The "Lost Bridge of Big Sur!"
It's no surprise that Highway 1 has bedeviled engineers for decades. As with most things, Mother Nature tends to have the final say.
Landslide, rockslides, mudslides, natural erosion - you name it - they all conspire to thwart man's best intentions. (The most difficult stretch south of Big Sur took 16 years and three camps of San Quentin inmates to build!)
Then there's the "Lost Bridge of Big Sur." Known as the Dolan Creek Bridge, it (precariously) stood for nearly 30 years. (Call us crazy, but it reminds us of Coney Island's all-wood Cyclone roller coaster.)
| |
| Live Music on the Horizon!
Just need an excuse to make a trip to Big Sur and the Library in particular?
Well we have two to be exact. Two excuses, two wonderful live acts who'll perform inside the Library!
And yes we said inside.
& now this:
We pull out the tables, light a fire (and if you're especially well-behaved, some Nag Champa), get some candles going, dim the lights, and let the magic wash over us like a magical, musical, um, El Nino landslide.
Don't say we didn't warn you!
| |
|
| Greeting Digesteers!
It's us. The Henry Miler Library. The above banner suggests we'd been less-than-punctual in providing you with a December Digest, and for that we apologize.
We'll make up for it with a Double Digest in February!
In our defense, the laws of space and time tend to get disproportionately curved here in Big Sur, especially during the post-holiday time. If you spend more than three days you can attest to this. It makes you wonder, doesn't it? You know, about the whole nature of time itself.
We think Danish physicist Niels Bohr sums it up best: "Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real."
(Speaking of which...did we leave the oven on?)
But we digress....
This evening finds us eating cookies, drinking black tea, and wearing slippers. It's a pleasant time of year, and we have company. His name is...El Nino!
| |
|
Indeed, Big Sur is in the thick of it. Yet just like a close, but-just-out-reach pagan god, El Nino, thus far, is a merciful weather phenomenon.
That is, we've experienced spates of rain, but no windy, apocalyptic hellstorms. At least not yet.
So thanks El Nino! (And to play it safe, as a sign of a sacrificial offering, we'll be burning a copy of Fifty Shades of Gray at a make-shift altar later in the day.)
Better safe than sorry!
So with that as an introduction, today's Digest will be slightly weather-y. But before we begin, one bit of housekeeping.
We'd like to thank you, as always, for your support. Your $2 Digest subscription may not seem like that much, but it helps us out a lot. So thanks. (And if you think any friends may be interested in joining "the family," send 'em here.)
| |
|
Couldn't make it to Pink Martini? Re-live it now! Today!
The sold-out Pink Martini show a few weeks back was amazing, uplifting, and musically mind-blowing. None of this is news, of course. If you missed the show, however, don't fret. Check out some exclusive photos here.
| |
|
20% Digest Discount on Commemorative Pink Martini Posters!
What's more, you, dear Digesteer can get a commemorative Pink Martini poster at a 20% discount! The blue ones are here; the red ones are here.
When you check out, just enter "Digest" in the Notes field!
Looking Back...a Smattering of Memories from the Year that Was! (That'd be 2015)
William Faulkner famously said, "The past is never dead. It's not even past." He's right! But that won't stop us from looking back on the year that was.
Check out the nifty slideshow of some of 2015's highlights here!
| |
| From the Archives: Barbara and Henry!
In February 1954 Henry received a surprise letter from his long-lost daughter Barbara, whom he had abandoned in 1924 when he left Beatrice, to take up with June. Barbara now thirty-four, was living in Pasadena, California, and working as a secretary to an optometrist. She had located Miller by reading a feature article about him that had been published in Family Circle magazine. (The irony of the magazine's title was undoubtedly not lost on Miller. Miller had avoided Beatrice, always fearful she would pursue him for back alimony).
This was a happy reunion and one that probably was healing for both of them. They stayed in touch for the remainder of Miller's life. He involved himself in her life, gave her money and advice, and wrote her into his will.
| |
| 
The back of the photo of Henry and Barbara | |
| | |
| Last but not least...it's Theo in Paradise! Perhaps the cold weather is getting to us, but our sights have inevitably turned westward, to the warmer climes of old Hawaii....Won't you join us? And with that -- and to those who are still with us -- we're outta here! A belated Happy New Year and see you VERY SOON!
| |
|
