Living with Legends

Herbert Huncke is the pivotal figure in the development of beat literature. Huncke’s use of the carny term “beat” in his stories of riding the rails in the   thirties inspired Jack Kerouac to chronicle his own tales of rootless wandering in On the Road. He turned William Burroughs onto heroin, and appears as a character in Burroughs’ Junky, the first step in an immersion in addict culture that would eventually produce Naked Lunch. And the image of Huncke’s shoes filled with blood tramping 42^nd Street gave Allen Ginsberg the very model of the “angel-headed hipster” in his seminal poem Howl. But most beat fans do not realize that before he even met the beat lit triumvirate, Huncke was writing in a journal he always carried with him. The stories that come down to us, depicting lyrical childhood memories, loss of innocence, misfits of society, petty crime, incarceration, junk sickness and the downtown art scene, reveal that Huncke’s legendary storytelling skills were infused with their own touch of the poet.

This January 9, 2009 will be the 94^th anniversary of Huncke’s birth, and the extended family of his friends and fellow travelers are coming together to remind us of Herbert’s importance as a writer. Among those scheduled to read are:

Tatum O’Neal, Oscar winning actress

Thurston Moore, Sonic Youth founder

Abel Ferrara, Indie movie auteur

Jack Walls, writer & visual artist

Stewart Meyer, Lotus Crew novelist

Edgar Oliver, downtown theatre stalwart

Anne Hanavan, video artist

Jeremiah Newton, writer & gay activist

David Lawton, poet & actor

Dimitri Mobengo Mugianis, poet, drug user activist, ibogaine therapist & N’ganga

With video contributions from:

Laki Vazakas, Huncke and Louis

Francois Bernadi, Original Beats

David Schmiddlap

And a Special Musical Appearance by Patti Smith

The event takes place at the hot new downtown club, The Bowery Electric, 327 Bowery (at 2^nd Street), starting at 8pm. Doors open at 7:30pm. There is no admission for this event. A presentation of Basse Productions.