For immediate release
March 23, 2010
Family, scholars and fans of Downtown L.A. novelist John Fante gather for 101st birthday and Fante Square unveiling
WHAT: Councilwoman Jan Perry unveils the commemorative JOHN FANTE SQUARE sign on the 101st anniversary of the author's birth
WHERE: Corner of 5th & Grand, downtown LA (next to the Central Library)
WHEN: Thursday, April 8, 12 noon – John Fante's 101st birthday
RELATED NEWS: Esotouric & On Bunker Hill have launched a self-guided tour map of John Fante's Downtown – LINK: http://johnfantesdowntown.notlong.com . And on Saturday, April 17, 12 noon Esotouric offers its occasional bus tour "John Fante's Dreams from Bunker Hill" – LINK: http://www.esotouric.com/fante
LOS ANGELES- John Fante (1909-1983) was Charles Bukowski's favorite writer, his "Ask the Dust" was the book Robert Towne wanted to film after "Chinatown" (it finally was made in 2006 starring Colin Farrell, Salma Hayek, and Donald Sutherland) and he is honored with an annual festival in Italy—but in 21st Century Los Angeles, his name often gets a shrug. That's too bad, because Fante might be the funniest, most heartwarming, honest and appealing writer to ever take this city as his subject.
But on April 8 John Fante's local fame will get a big jolt. That's when Councilwoman Jan Perry unveils an official City of Los Angeles sign designating the highly-trafficked intersection of 5th Street and Grand Avenue (at the foot of Fante's beloved Bunker Hill and next to the Central Library where Bukowski discovered "Ask the Dust") as JOHN FANTE SQUARE. April 8 is also the 101st anniversary of John Fante's birth, and the perfect date to recognize his literary legacy and continued influence on the culture of downtown Los Angeles. Come celebrate Fante's birthday and this wonderful honor with members of the Fante family, city officials, scholars and fans of the author's unforgettable downtown anti-hero Arturo Bandini.
Journalists interested in covering this occasion can request pre- or post-event interviews with a number of notable individuals, most of whom will also be in attendance and speaking at the April 8 dedication. Potential interview subjects include:
STEPHEN COOPER (Author of John Fante's biography "Full of Life," and professor of writing at Cal State Long Beach)
DAN FANTE (John Fante's son and himself an acclaimed author and playwright currently working on poems about his father, and occasional guest speaker on Esotouric's tour "John Fante's Dreams from Bunker Hill")
VICKIE FANTE COHEN (John Fante's daughter, inspiration for the bratty teenage daughter character in Fante's late novels, and regular guest speaker on Esotouric's tour "John Fante's Dreams from Bunker Hill")
GENIE GUERARD & DANIEL GARDNER (Ms. Guerard is the UCLA Special Collections Librarian who accessioned the recently-acquired John Fante Papers after many years of discussion between the University and the Fante family, and can speak of their significance within the University's collections of historic archives; Mr. Gardner is the graduate student who processed them and is most familiar with their contents and what will soon be made available to scholars and interested members of the public)
GORDON PATTISON (Mr. Pattison grew up on Bunker Hill, and his family was the last hold out against eminent domain claims from the city, not wanting to part with their rooming houses The Castle and The Saltbox, the last two buildings left standing when Bunker Hill was leveled in 1969; Gordon speaks eloquently of the lost history of Bunker Hill and the type of neighborhood it was in Fante's and Arturo Bandini's day)
JAN PERRY (Los Angeles City CD9 Councilwoman who formally proposed John Fante Square and hosts the dedication ceremony outside Central Library)
RICHARD SCHAVE (Mr. Schave is host of the Esotouric bus and walking tour "John Fante's Dreams from Bunker Hill" and co-creator of the time travel blog OnBunkerHill.org which is dedicated to the history of the lost neighborhood, he also wrote the nomination for the city to designate 5th & Grand as John Fante Square; Mr. Schave is a social, literary and architectural historian with a special interest in Downtown Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE SELF-GUIDED TOUR OF JOHN FANTE'S DOWNTOWN: In honor of the dedication of John Fante Square and the author's 101st birthday, Esotouric and On Bunker Hill have created a digital map to a selection of Downtown locations that played a significant role in Fante's life and work, and can be easily visited on foot. To explore the annotated map of Fante-related locations, including locations from "Ask The Dust" and the little known last remaining stone retaining wall from old Bunker Hill, visit - http://johnfantesdowntown.notlong.com
ABOUT ESOTOURIC'S TOUR: On JOHN FANTE'S DREAMS OF BUNKER HILL (April 17), passengers walk and ride in the footsteps of Fante and his anti-hero Arturo Bandini, from the lost Bunker Hill Victorian rooming houses where Fante starved and dreamed of fame, the main library where he roamed the stacks (and later, where Bukowski discovered "Ask the Dust"), the Skid Row bars where b-girls pocketed his royalty payments, the Grand Central Market where kindly Japanese farmers gave the poor writer free oranges, to the retirement home Angelus Plaza to see Kay Martin's stunning paintings of Bunker Hill's mansions just before the city condemned them, to the newly restored Angels Flight Railway. This is a tour celebrating the weird old L.A. that's not there anymore, where a poor Italian-American Colorado kid could sell a novel, become a screenwriter, and inspire a new generation of writers just by telling the raw and funny truth. And eventually, even get a street corner outside the main city library named in his honor! To learn more about Esotouric's forthcoming tour of John Fante's Bunker Hill, visit http://www.esotouric.com/fante
Esotouric's Kim Cooper and Richard Schave are proud members of LAVA - The Los Angeles Visionaries Association. http://www.lavatransforms.org
To schedule an interview with any of the above named individuals with the exception of Councilwoman Jan Perry, Contact Kim at amscrayATgmailDOTcom, 323-223-2767. Contact Jan Perry's office at (213) 473-7009.
