Walnut Street Wonders
“The strangeness of Time…the sudden realization that something finite, has passed, and is irretrievable.”― Joyce Carol Oates
The US Postal Service delivered me an unexpected oddity yesterday that I had been trying to make heads and tails out of ever since. The package contained a small book….a little bigger than the size of a CD jewel-case (I hope you younger readers understand the reference)…chock full of photos taken of celebrities from 1969 to 1977. As the introductory story relates, The Mike Douglas Show moved to Philadelphia in 1965 and while there, an amateur photographer, known only as “Lois” began to document the stars that congregated around program. Many of the photos showcase a person who is assumed to be Lois, whose distinctive look best resembles Terry Jones in drag, posing with the celebrity subject. And as often as is the case with amateur photography, there is a grit and intimacy that tell a new story about the stars that were captured.
So what the hell is this book anyway? The introduction is more of a “what if” and “maybe this is what” meditation on the life and times of “Lois.” The credits of the back of the book reveal that it was put together by Rob Sevier, a friend who is known for his work at The Numero Group. Not having his phone number handy, I texted the other Numero Group honcho Ken Shipley: “WHAT IS THIS CRAZY LOIS BOOK?” His reply: “Lois?”
Was I being conned? Is this some Exit Through The Gift Shop Banksy smoke and mirrors shenanigans?
I called Ken and described the thing, reading off the title: “The Walnut Street Sightings (by Lois).” Upon hearing the title, he sighed knowingly and spilled the beans. These photos were found at a swap meet in the Bay Area (I am pretty sure that is what he said). It is assumed that Lois was the person who took the photographs and wrote descriptions of the photos on the back, which are reprinted in the book. Fantastic absurdist poetry like:
Ruby Keeler is a star, and stars do what stars do-which is not to sink into the mists of some obscurely wealthy and social community in Southern California and drop out.
Was Lois the photographer? Or just the fan-in-the-photos? Or both, with an uncredited friend along for the ride ready to snap pics of Lois and the stars? Was this the only period of amateur photography in the life of the photographer? Is Lois wigged or photoshopped? So many never-to-be answered questions…and to be honest, who cares: there is no need for the answers to love this small book of wonder. Between the photos, the descriptions of the photos, and a colorful attempt at piecing a story together while digging deep into Philadelphia history, this is one of those oddist artifacts that will well entertain as it is passed around a table of drinking companions.
This is the second curiosity Sevier has published, the first being a book comprised of a history of Madonna’s fan mail…books that, as Shipley puts it, are looking at “America at its strangest.” There is nothing currently on-line about the book, but it is supposedly available at Skylight Books in Los Feliz, CA. Just ask for “The Walnut Street Sightings (by Lois)".” Getting crazed packages like this one make life oh-so-much-more colorful. I might just have to buy a few and randomly send them out to folks who would get the joke, and the goodness….
“The filmmaker behind ‘Grizzly Man’ and ‘Fitzcarraldo’ makes a late-career foray into fiction with his new book, ‘The Twilight World.’ He feels he has finally found his medium.”
Joel Whitburn, Legendary Chart Historian and Reference Book Author, Dies at 82
Whitburn’s books have snuck their way into my library over time…in fact, upon hearing of his death I realized just how many I own: amazing reference materials chronicling the history of recording industry hit charts and beyond. His body of work is truly monstrous. RIP.
A CALL FOR PROPOSALS: Dena Epstein Award for Archival and Library Research in American Music
I bet there are some people reading this that should be applying. Last years winners:
Michael Cooper for his book-length biography project about Margaret Allison Bonds.
Michael Kramer for his book project, “This Machine Kills Fascists: What the Folk Music Revival Can Teach Us About the Digital Age.”
David Rugger for his book project, “Simple Man: Klaus Nomi’s Life and Art.”
Emmalouise St. Amand for her dissertation on semi-professional and amateur Black girl groups in New York City between 1950 and 1965.
A Logic Named Joe by Murray Leinster
Today is science fiction author Murray Leinster’s birthday so I thought I would post one of his more famous short stories known for its prophetic voice of the rise of computers.
Nicola Dickson's Walking the Murray
I stumbled upon a recent exhibition of Australian Painter Nicola Dickson and was taken by her mysterious, dark perspectives of the native landscapes she captures. Her trees, a form often found in her paintings, creep to the sky in a psychedelic sorrowful grandeur. You can see the complete recent show still on the gallery website.
now does our world descend
by: e e cummings
now does our world descend
the path to nothingness
(cruel now cancels kind;
friends turn to enemies)
therefore lament,my dream
and don a doer's doom
create is now contrive;
imagined,merely know
(freedom:what makes a slave)
therefore,my life,lie down
and more by most endure
all that you never were
hide,poor dishonoured mind
who thought yourself so wise;
and much could understand
concerning no and yes:
if they've become the same
it's time you unbecame
where climbing was and bright
is darkness and to fall
(now wrong's the only right
since brave are cowards all)
therefore despair,my heart
and die into the dirt
but from this endless end
of briefer each our bliss—
where seeing eyes go blind
(where lips forget to kiss)
where everything's nothing
—arise,my soul;and sing
