One Week Left To Sign Petition Supporting Writer Charles Bukowski's Postage
Stamp
LOS ANGELES- In 1969, when the 49-year-old underground poet and columnist
Charles Bukowski quit his job at the Terminal Annex US Postal Service
sorting facility, he was one step ahead of a pink slip. Offered $100 a month
by an editor who believed in his work, Bukowski took the leap to become a
professional writer, and in just a few weeks produced his first novel, the
autobiographical "Post Office."
Bukowski never held a day job again. He would go on to write six more
novels, the screenplay to "Barfly" and thousands of poems, and to find
international acclaim as one of the truly distinctive voices of Los Angeles
literature. Although he died in 1994, his literary output continues with
posthumous anthologies, and he is widely known among American booksellers as
the most shoplifted author on their shelves.
In 2006, Bukowski's archives were acquired by the Huntington Library, and in
2008 the modest East Hollywood cottage where he wrote "Post Office" was
named one of the Historic-Cultural Monuments of the City of Los Angeles.
But one perfectly apt honor still eludes Bukowski: shouldn't the second most
famous American postal worker after Benjamin Franklin have his own postage
stamp?
Richard Schave and Kim Cooper of the L.A.-based literary bus tour company
Esotouric think so, and have launched a petition asking the Citizens Stamp
Advisory Committee to consider recommending that a commemorative Bukowski
stamp be released on the 20th anniversary of his death (March 9, 2014).
Currently containing more than 350 signatures, the online Charles Bukowski
Stamp Petition will remain active until March 1, 2010, when it will be
printed out and submitted to the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee, the
volunteer group that advises the postal service on appropriate choices for
commemorative stamps.
To view or sign the petition, visit:
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/bukowskistamp
If you're heading to LA any time soon check with http://www.esotouric.com
Esotouric's celebrations of Bukowski's life and work include the bus tour
"Haunts of A Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowski's LA" (next scheduled on April
24), working on the campaign to have his home landmarked, and inviting
journalist Marco Mannone to host a Bukowski Salon at the October 2009
Downtown LA Art Walk. They also spearheaded the successful campaign to have
the corner of Fifth and Grand, at the LA Central Library, designated John
Fante Square, after the writer who Bukowski called "my God." (Fante Square
signs will be erected sometime in Spring 2010.)
Sourced from http://www.explosivepr.com
