Bukowski Stamp

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