Wine, women, and a gnarly old poet
Buried but ever present, Charles Bukowski keeps rolling along Charles Bukowski. Illustration by John Van Hamersveld, based on a photo by Mark Hanauer Most of us won’t be here to blow out the candles on our 95th birthday, nor did Charles Bukowski reach that milestone. Even so, a number of people will be celebrating for him this Sunday afternoon at the Warner Grand Theatre and surrounding venues in downtown San Pedro. Bukowski’s gritty tales of urban lowlife, many of them semi-autobiographical, were chronicled in poetry and prose, including “Post Office,” “Notes of a Dirty Old Man,” “Love is a Dog from Hell,” “Ham on Rye,” and “Pulp.” “Barfly” (1987), with Mickey Rourke, briefly cast Bukowski into the spotlight. In 2005, Bent Hamer brought “Factotum” to the screen with actors Matt Dillon, Marisa Tomei, and Lili Taylor. The latter film — didn’t see it? Now you can — screens on Sunday. All’s well that ends well, perhaps, but one can imagine that it would have ended much earlier and under cloudier skies if Hank (Bukowski) had never met Linda Lee. Anyway, let’s rewind the tape all the way back to 1976. Linda Lee Beighle, a willowy, waifish, and spirited young woman, was running an…
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