bookmen past

when I'd visit NYC in the late 60s & early 70s the Village was always on the agenda. pastry at Sutter's   burger at Julius   rum & coke at the Dugout. & always the bookstores.

Cinemabilia was on Cornelia   near Cafe Cino. its owner was an often morose man by the name of Ernest Burns. he ran the place alone. later it movd to a bigger space & his staff rangd from artist Ira Joel Haber to punk rockers Richard Hell   Tom Verlaine & Robert Quine. I still consult my film library almost daily. & many of the oldest books in it were from Cinemabilia.

a more pleasant bookdealer was Craig Rodwell who ran the Oscar Wilde over on Mercer. it's considerd the world's first gay bookstore.

then there was the 8th Street Bookstore. I think it was the spring of 1969 when I met a young poet who workd there. his name was Andrei Codrescu. we were both appearing in the little mags of the day. I invitd him to send me poems for Toucan.

this came back to me this ayem when I read Bill Reed's blog. I probably saw him in those days when he workd there as well. I haven't read Reed's memoir of that time but his blog has been on my daily list since Jim Parish told me abt it. he writes mostly abt music   recalling such fading fiugures as Dwight Fiske & Beverly Kenney. you won't regret reading his interview with Millie Perkins.